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 and its pilots will this week begin their last negotiation sessions before a Thanksgiving recess, with talks moving away from the contentious pay debate to focus on work rules, such as scheduling and reserve policies. The airline and the Allied Pilots Association will meet Tuesday through Thursday, and APA is expected to respond to American's scheduling and reserve proposals. There will be no talks during the week of Thanksgiving, and no negotiation timetable for December has been set yet.
With a month-and-a-half remaining in 2007, Boeing appears more likely than ever to bust the 1,000-order threshold for the third consecutive year. Boeing reported 34 new orders booked in the week ending Nov. 6, for a net total of 956. The remaining 44 shouldn't be too hard to achieve, with the manufacturer announcing 17 further orders just after updating the order total (see following story). Boeing executives were cautious in their predictions for this year, but the order total shows that the current cycle is showing little sign of dipping.
Cathay yesterday announced a major move in its cargo operation, placing an order with Boeing for 10 747-8 freighters, as well as seven 777ERs for its passenger fleet. The airline is the eighth customer for the 747-8, which now has 73 orders. Almost all of these buyers are for the freighter version. The Cathay deal more than doubles this year's net order total for the aircraft, which previously stood at six.
