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.
United crawled to a slim full-year net profit for 2006, although the airline saw a loss for the fourth quarter that was not helped by winter storms in December at its Denver and Chicago hubs that trimmed about $40 million from passenger revenue. The airline recorded a net profit of just $25 million for the last 11 months of 2006 - the period since its emergence from bankruptcy protection. This was an improvement of $423 million from the same 11 months in 2005, excluding reorganization costs.
Guggenheim Aviation Partners announced this week it is selling $1.6 billion worth of aircraft, including at least 11 Boeing 747-400s, to leasing company Aircastle. Of the 38 aircraft to be sold, 12 are freighters: four 747-400ERFs to be delivered new from the manufacturer, seven 747-400s that have been or are about to be converted to freighters, and one MD11SF. The other 26 are passenger aircraft.
U.S. Transportation Dept. Secretary Mary Peters yesterday said the long-awaited administration proposal for FAA reauthorization will be unveiled shortly after the fiscal 2008 budget comes out Feb. 5. Some industry observers expect the proposal to be released within a few days of the budget, but Peters would only commit to "a few weeks" after the budget release. She did add that DOT hopes to beat this target, however.
