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.
Alaska Airlines last week made two senior appointments, naming Gary Beck as VP-flight operations and Elizabeth Ryan managing director for labor relations. Beck comes to Alaska from Delta, where he was senior VP-flight operations and chief pilot. He was also CEO of the Delta Connection Academy, a pilot training organization in Orlando, Fla. During a 20-year tenure at Delta, Beck held several senior operations posts. He is a captain on the Boeing 727, 757 and 767 aircraft. Beck replaces Kevin Finan, who retired from Alaska last month.
Boeing last week announced a record tally of 1,413 commercial aircraft orders for 2007, thanks to a late flurry of large orders, although it will not be clear until next week whether the U.S. airframer has beaten the Airbus total for the year.
AirTran has awarded Israel Aerospace Industries’ Bedek Group a maintenance contract for the landing gear on the carrier’s Boeing 737 fleet. The long-term maintenance contract extends the two companies’ existing decade-old business relationship. AirTran has ordered 115 737s and has so far taken delivery of 50.
