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.
New Zealand and Australian government officials are expected on Thursday to announce further liberalization of air travel between the two nations. Some changes are expected to be in place by December, streamlining trans-Tasman flights considerably.
The fourth quarter will see U.S. domestic capacity fall close to levels last seen during the final three months of 2001 — directly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Air Transport Association estimates that domestic capacity for U.S. carriers will be about 12.47 billion available seat miles (ASMs) per week in the fourth quarter, down from the 12.75 billion for the same period in 2008 and the 14.2 billion in 2007. The last time fourth-quarter domestic capacity was this low was in 2001, when carriers flew just 12.14 billion ASMs per week.
A new contract for U.S. controllers will raise pay bands dramatically during the three-year duration of the agreement, although an arbitration panel stresses that both the controllers union and FAA had to make major concessions.
