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.
President-elect Barack Obama on Friday named Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) as his choice for U.S. Transportation Secretary. LaHood’s selection was widely expected, with news of the appointment leaking out last week (DAILY, Dec. 18). Also, Obama named former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk as U.S. Trade Representative. Kirk was believed to be a strong contender for the transportation job.
Florida lawmakers and the controllers union are urging FAA to postpone any moves to split the Orlando ATC operation into separate tower and approach control units. In a letter to FAA Chief Operating Officer Hank Krakowski, 14 congressional representatives said the Orlando move should wait until an FAA reauthorization bill has been completed. This will mean that a process will be in place for deciding realignments of this nature. Aviation subcommittee Ranking Member John Mica was one of the lawmakers signing the letter.
Premium traffic is seeing the kind of decline that many in the airline industry have been predicting for months, according to new data from IATA. In October, premium traffic was down 7%, and IATA expects this “weakness to continue well into 2009.” Previous downturns have seen declines of more than 10%, the group notes, and this level could be reached again by early next year. Economy travel is also down — by 1.8% — although not as much as premium. Overall, IATA believes this points to “increasing losses for the next few quarters.”
