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.
Most major carriers are laying on extra flights to handle the hordes that are expected to descend on Washington, D.C., in January for inauguration events, and even those not scheduling extra flights are seeing a dramatic uptick in bookings. US Airways is putting 27 more flights into the Washington airports on Jan. 17 and 18, and 16 more flights from Washington on Jan. 20 and 21. As well as the additional frequencies, the carrier will also put larger aircraft on some routes.
International Lease Finance Corp. CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy has confirmed months of speculation by revealing that he is attempting to put together a new ownership group, including the lessor’s current management. Such a deal would disentangle ILFC from current owner AIG, which is being forced to sell subsidiaries to raise cash. While he is not yet revealing who the likely investors are, Udvar-Hazy reportedly says a deal will likely close early in 2009.
American last week promoted Doug Herring to VP for operations finance and strategic planning. Herring is currently head of American Beacon Advisors, the subsidiary the airline recently sold. He will be “responsible for the financial activities related to American’s operations function,” as well as the group’s strategic planning. Herring was in charge of Beacon from March 2006 through its sale this year, and previously held senior executive roles at American.
