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.
American on Sunday completed the first revenue flight of a Boeing 767-300ER fitted with blended winglets, on the DFW-London Heathrow route. The airline plans to install winglets on all of its 58 767-300ERs by 2011, and it estimates this will result in fuel savings of up to 29 million gallons per year. The winglets were developed by Aviation Partners Boeing (APB). A flight test certification program began in February 2008 with a leased American 767-300ER. The two companies jointly began the winglet development program in 2007.
Frontier says it has reached a new agreement with Republic Airways Holdings that will provide $40 million in debtor-in-possession financing, which effectively replaces and expands an earlier DIP agreement. According to Frontier, the latest facility refinances the existing $30 million in DIP loans that mature in April. This “increases the available financing compared to the expiring DIP loan and preserves our financial security as we seek a plan sponsor to emerge from bankruptcy later this year,” the carrier said.
Airlines are concerned by strong signals from House lawmakers that they want to institute new penalties to compensate passengers for delayed bags. Language was added to the House reauthorization bill requiring the Government Accountability Office to study the issue of baggage delays, and report back within 180 days. GAO would be directed to “make recommendations for establishing minimum standards to compensate a passenger in the case of an unreasonable delay in the delivery of checked baggage.”
