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.
The Air Transport Association board is believed to be interviewing candidates to replace the group’s president and CEO, James May, who is expected to be leaving the organization when his contract expires early next year. Sources say a strong candidate for the job is Lisa Rickard, executive VP of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. A spokesman for the Chamber said he cannot confirm that Rickard is leaving her current post. The ATA said it does not comment on rumors and speculation.
FedEx Express CEO David Bronczek has begun a one-year term as chairman of the International Air Transport Association’s board of governors. Bronczek succeeds Cathay Pacific CEO Tony Tyler, whose own one-year term expires this month. IATA also announced that KLM CEO Peter Hartman will be IATA board chairman following Bronczek’s term. He will take over after the 2011 IATA annual meeting, to be held in Cairo June 5-7.
The International Air Transport Association is setting up an automated database for airline baggage rules and fees, aimed at increasing transparency on the wide range of these rules and making interlining more efficient. The IATA board approved the Automated Carrier Baggage Rules (ACBR) project during the group’s annual general meeting in Berlin. Driving the ACBR effort is the fact that IATA’s existing standard for baggage interlining expires in March 2011, says Aleks Popovich, IATA’s senior VP-industry distribution and financial services.
