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.
Continental's pilots union yesterday presented its first contract proposals to the airline after management agreed to begin contract negotiations about nine months early. The contract talks were scheduled to start in April 2008, with the current agreement becoming amendable at the end of next year. The early phases of negotiations will deal with non-economic clauses in the contract, while wage talks will still begin in April.
American says it has switched its focus for China flights from Dallas to Chicago based on its assessment of future market conditions, and the decision has nothing to do with its pilot labor agreement. Last week, the airline announced its intention to apply to fly from Chicago O'Hare to Beijing, as part of DOT's omnibus award of China flights through 2009. The daily flight American will apply for will be available in 2009.
Delta and United are asking the U.S. Transportation Dept. to split up the awards of China flights available through 2009, instead of considering them all together in an accelerated process. While both carriers detailed convincing arguments for separating the awards, there may be another unstated motivation for their requests. Industry sources suggest they are partly aimed at gaining more time before the China applications are due, or even increasing their chances of winning more than one award.
