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 U.K.’s National Air Traffic Services is expanding the use of a Nav Canada ATC product to three of the busiest airports in Scotland. The Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh airports will be the latest to get the integrated information display system/extended computer display system. This ATC automation system allows controllers to manage flight data online, eliminating the need for paper flight strips and easing access to necessary information. It can also generate flow management statistics.
American’s flight attendants’ union says the airline is offering a new voluntary program as the carrier expects to have too many flight attendants for its summer schedule. American told the Association of Professional Flight Attendants that it will likely have an excess of 200-400 attendants, although a specific furlough announcement has not been made. The voluntary programs include five or 10 years of travel benefits upon separation, leave and partnership flying.
Qantas reported a significant decline in traffic in November, and load factors were down for all its operating units. Overall, the group saw a traffic drop of 5.2% year-on-year, overshadowing a 1% capacity cut for the month. This resulted in load factor sinking 3.4 points to 78.3%. In mainline operations, domestic traffic suffered most, declining 6.8% on a 1.6% capacity cut, resulting in load factor dropping 4.4 points to 78.1%. International traffic fell 6.4%, with capacity down 2.5% and load factor falling 3.3 points to 79.4%.
