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.
The Air Transport Association says its new ticket tax proposal has advantages built in for passengers flying from small communities. The distance-based fee that is a key part of the ATA proposal uses Great Circle Miles, which means the trip distance is calculated between origin and destination without factoring in connecting stops. This puts passengers from small communities "on equal footing with passengers who can fly directly between major markets," ATA says.
FAA says it will shrink and simplify the air defense identification zone around Washington by Aug. 30. The ADIZ is currently an irregular shape, and "it's now going to be a clean circle about 30 nautical miles in diameter," FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said at the Experimental Aircraft Association event in Oshkosh last week. Noting that many ADIZ violations have occurred, Blakey said the new version will be simpler without diminishing security.
Jennifer Michels and Adrian Schofield (Washington)
U.S. major airlines are exploiting burgeoning international markets while shrinking domestic capacity, leading to higher profits in the second quarter. Of the network airlines that released their results last week—UAL Corp., US Airways Group and Alaska Air Group—UAL Corp., which blamed domestic overcapacity for part of its $152-million net loss in the first quarter, was best able to shift resources to international markets and cut costs, leading to a $274-million net income during the second quarter.
