Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with&nbsp;New Jersey Monthly&nbsp;magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.

Senior Editor

Gregory Polek

United Airlines has moved to exploit newfound freedom to alter the composition of its regional jet network with a tentative deal to add 30 new Embraer E175s to the United Express fleet. Plans call for the 76-seat airplanes—configured to carry 12 passengers in first class, 16 in so-called Economy Plus and 48 in standard economy—to replace some of the 50-seat regional jets in the United Express fleet, a majority of which consist of Embraer ERJ-145s operated by former Continental Express carrier ExpressJet. United expects deliveries to run from next year to 2015, but it hasn’t revealed which partner or partners it has chosen to fly the airplanes.


According to United, the E175s will burn 10 percent less fuel per seat mile and emit less carbon dioxide per seat than the 50-seaters they replace.


A new scope clause negotiated late last year with United’s pilot union, the Air Line Pilots Association, set the conditions for UAL’s first deployment of 76-seat jets. The new contract allows for a total of 130 seventy-six-seat jets out of a total of 255 airplanes in the 70-/76-seat category. After Jan. 1, 2016, the total of 76-seaters may rise to 153, while the number of 70-/76-seat-category airplanes may total 325.&nbsp; 
 
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United To Add 30 E175s to Express Network

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