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 saw a significant slowing of unit revenue growth in November, reflecting a dire month for most major airlines. Consolidated unit revenue rose by just 1%-2% year-on-year, compared to year-on-year growth of 9.5% in October. Mainline domestic unit revenue was flat to up 1% in November. Consolidated traffic dropped 10.5%, on a 7.3% capacity decline. Load factor fell 2.8 points to 77.3%. Domestic mainline traffic fell 15%, with capacity down 12.4% and load factor dropping 2.5 points to 80.6%.
American and its pilots union returned to the negotiating table this week, but the break did nothing to improve their relations. The pilot representatives walked out of Monday’s session, saying the airline had not presented any counter to its latest offer. Talks continue through the week and further rounds may occur in two weeks’ time and just after Christmas.
The global airline industry saw international traffic shrink in October compared to the same period last year, the second consecutive month of year-on-year decline which the International Air Transport Association sees as reason for serious concern.
