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.
Global airline passenger growth slowed significantly going into the summer months and cargo volume is actually on the decline, according to IATA’s report on June demand. This trend has prompted a warning from IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani that “with consumer and business confidence falling and sky-high oil prices, the situation will get a lot worse.” IATA is due to update its airline industry profit/loss estimates next month, and the smart money is on another downgrade.
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh believes talks on seeking antitrust immunity (ATI) with American will wrap up in the next two weeks. The discussions “are going very well,” Walsh said. They should allow the two carriers to formally seek ATI this month. Walsh’s comments came as BA announced a dramatically reduced profit for the quarter ending June 30.
Adrian Schofield (Washington), Darren Shannon (Washington)
Low-cost carriers are once again being presented with market openings to exploit as the major U.S. airlines scramble to slash service across their networks. But the pickings won’t be so easy for the LCCs this time, since most are feeling just as much pain as their legacy brethren.
