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.
Virgin Blue subsidiary V Australia has returned to service a Boeing 777-300 that was grounded for inspections after engine problems during takeoff in Los Angeles on April 13. The 777 (VH-VOZ) was declared serviceable after a component was replaced and borescope inspections over the weekend found no internal damage to the engine, a Virgin Blue spokeswoman tells Aviation Week. The aircraft departed at 8:35 p.m. local time April 17, on a scheduled flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne.
After years of development, FAA has declared its new en route air traffic control system fully operational and ready for nationwide introduction. The agency made the “in-service” decision on the en route automation modernization (ERAM) system based on its performance at the operational test sites in Seattle and Salt Lake City. ERAM, which will be the backbone of the ATC system at the 20 en route centers in the Continental U.S., is regarded as a crucial precursor to the NextGen modernization effort.
The FAA says it won’t know the final cost of its system command center relocation until next year, but the agency says it will probably come in at—or slightly under—the $46 million it budgeted for the move in 2008. The new command center, which was officially opened this week, is expected to save the agency more than $2 million a year. Many costs will be shared with the terminal radar approach control for the Washington region, which is on the same site in Warrenton, Va.
