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.
Sensis Corp. and FAA are entering the final stages of a major upgrade in surface surveillance technology at the largest U.S. airports, laying the foundation for other projects designed to reduce the risk of runway incursions. These programs have been receiving a lot of attention due to an extensive runway safety campaign FAA has undertaken in recent years. While it achieved a sharp drop in runway incursion numbers in fiscal 2009, the agency is continuing to look for new ways to improve situational awareness for both pilots and controllers.
Former TSA administrator nominee Erroll Southers is expected to announce soon that he has joined an international consulting firm. Southers earlier this week said he was leaving Los Angeles World Airports (DAILY, March 3). In addition to his new job, he also will be taking on an enhanced role with the University of Southern California’s homeland security program. Southers was the White House pick to head TSA but withdrew his name from consideration in January.
Passenger demand on international routes continued to strengthen in January with a 6.4% year-on-year increase, according to the International Air Transport Association. The January increase represented another sequential improvement, up from the 4.5% gain in December. Adjusting for seasonal variations, the December-to-January demand increase was 0.5%. January capacity was up 1.2%, resulting in load factor rising 3.7 points to 75.9%.
