Adrian is Auckland bureau chief for Aviation Week, based in New Zealand. He covers commercial aviation in the Asia-Pacific region.
Adrian was previously based in Aviation Week’s Washington office for nine years, writing for a range of the group’s publications and covering many aspects of the commercial aviation industry. He has won Australasian and international awards for his aviation writing.
Prior to joining Aviation Week in 2002, Adrian covered aviation industry and policy issues for two other publishing companies in Washington. He has also worked for newspapers in Texas and New Zealand, covering a wide range of topics. Adrian graduated from Auckland University with a degree in history and English in 1992.
Qantas achieved a major breakthrough in its damaging fight against its largest labor groups when its engineers union approved a contract deal with the carrier. The airline’s agreement with the Australian Licensed Engineers Association (ALAEA) does not include the union demands that Qantas was most concerned about. While the ALAEA says it won a job security commitment, this clause is essentially the same as the one in the previous engineers’ contract.
Japan's airline industry is set for a major transformation in 2012 with the debut of three low-cost carriers, as airline executives bet that there is enough demand to match the sudden emergence of a competitive LCC market. Japan is a late arrival on the low-cost scene compared to other mature airline markets. It has had only a few locally based carriers—most notably Skymark Airlines—offering low-cost service, but now both Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) are setting up joint-venture LCCs.
Qantas Airways and Virgin Australia have opened a new front in their increasingly fierce rivalry as they attempt to outdo each other with advanced inflight entertainment (IFE) systems.
