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.
Continental reported a significant drop in January unit revenues and load factor, providing the clearest sign yet of how much pressure airline revenues are under in the first quarter. The carrier said its January consolidated unit revenue dropped 5%-6% year-on-year, with mainline down 3.5%-4.5%.
American has rejected a proposal from its pilots union relating to productivity, as the two sides continue to make slow progress on major issues in contract talks.
The latest update of FAA’s NextGen modernization plan focuses on how “mid-term” improvements can be delivered by 2018 and describes what must be done to achieve them. The agency says that with “internal NextGen planning well defined,” it will now focus on getting commitments from industry, particularly on avionics equipage. FAA has signed contracts with several airlines in recent months, allocating money so they can upgrade avionics to participate in targeted NextGen trials.
