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.
American cut its mainline capacity 7% in September, but this was outweighed by a 9.1% traffic drop. As a result, load factor declined 1.8 points to 76.6%. Domestic mainline traffic was down 11.7% on a 9.4% capacity drop, with load factor dipping 1.9 points to 78%. American Eagle reported its September traffic dropped 17.2%, with capacity down 9.9% and load factor falling 5.7 points to 64.5%.
U.S. regulators should relax ownership regulations and prohibitions against cabotage in order for a meaningful second-stage transatlantic open-skies deal to be negotiated, Virgin Atlantic CEO Steve Ridgway said yesterday in Washington.
Virgin Atlantic CEO Steve Ridgway believes transatlantic demand is staying surprisingly strong, which should be reflected in the airline’s latest half-year financial report, scheduled for release today. While yields are “coming under pressure,” traffic is generally up, compared with last year, Ridgway told DAILY reporters yesterday. On the transatlantic routes, “the market seems to be holding up quite well,” Ridgway said. However, there is no guarantee this will continue, and demand “will certainly see further pressure” in the winter travel season.
