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.
Auckland International Airport has taken an ownership stake in Queenstown Airport, and the two have formed a strategic partnership to increase traffic flow to both airports. The Auckland airport has taken a 24.99% shareholding in Queenstown Airport, at a cost of NZ$27.7 million ($19.6 million). The money will come from existing cash reserves. Auckland has the option of increasing the stake to 30-35% any time up until June 30, 2011.
The White House has nominated Duane Woerth as the U.S. ambassador to ICAO. Woerth was president of the Air Line Pilots Association from 1999 to 2006. He is currently senior VP-airline relations for the travel advertising firm Sojern, which he co-founded. He has served on several airline boards and is currently a director at Hawaiian Airlines. Woerth served in the U.S. Air Force and the Kansas Air National Guard, retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
FAA must do more to include and coordinate the work of other agencies on the NextGen initiative, and also review industry involvement, according to a new government report. The U.S. Transportation Department’s Inspector General (IG) conducted a sweeping analysis of the NextGen program at the request of Congress. In general, the IG says, “A number of critical actions are still needed to move NextGen from planning to implementation,” and “not taking timely action on these issues could delay FAA’s plans to transition to NextGen.”
