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.
Eurocontrol has reached agreement on a swath of route changes that will be introduced in March, aimed at reducing congestion and improving efficiency. The route changes for 2009 represent the second stage of a wider three-year airspace redesign effort. The first raft of the redesign was introduced this year, and the last will be implemented in 2010, said Joe Sultana, who heads Eurocontrol’s Airspace Network Planning & Navigation unit.
American today will resume contracts negotiations with both its flight attendants and pilots unions. The airline and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants met last week and have been swapping proposals on issues such as uniforms, filling of vacancies, leaves of absence, hotels and emergency assignments. A separate team is discussing the scheduling and reserve system. APFA says it cannot agree to a clause that would impose a new minimum threshold on flying hours.
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings expects to see a significant improvement in profits next year due to its new deal with DHL, as well as the continued shift to more wet-lease flying and less scheduled service. The company is forecasting a pre-tax operating profit of $130 million in 2009, more than double the $55 million-$60 million it expects this year. Atlas predicts lower military charter demand, and is also expecting market weakness in the commercial charter segment. However, the contracted flying for DHL is a larger positive.
