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.
Hundreds of European air route changes to be introduced in March are expected to shorten flight times, cut fuel consumption and reduce congestion, although airlines say they are not growing too excited until they see the new routes actually implemented. The changes slated for 2009 are a key part of a wider three-year airspace redesign effort. The first stage of the redesign was introduced this year, and the third stage—being developed now—will be implemented in 2010, says Joe Sultana, who heads Eurocontrol’s airspace network planning and navigation unit.
With less than two months of its term remaining, the Bush administration is signaling it will not back down from an ambitious—and increasingly unpopular—aviation agenda. President George W. Bush has stepped in to underline his support for the Transportation Dept. as it pushes ahead with controversial rules on airport slot auctions and passenger rights.
FAA’s Washington, D.C. area en-route center experienced a major communications outage Wednesday, the controllers’ union reports. The problem lasted about 12 hours, with communications lost between 11:18 p.m. Tuesday and 11 a.m. Wednesday. It affected one sector, handling flights heading to and from the New York area. Aircraft separation had to be increased from 15 miles to 40 miles. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said this is the third such outage at this center in a relatively short span.
