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.
FAA's Air Safety unit was yesterday awarded the ISO 9001:2000 certification by the International Organization for Standardization, becoming the largest federal entity to achieve this coveted rating. Other individual government offices have been awarded ISO9001:2000, but the FAA rating was achieved across many lines of business and different sites in the U.S. and overseas. The Aviation Safety organization has been working toward ISO registration since 2001.
The combined work force of U.S. airlines dropped 3.1% in August, although the decline was smaller than it has been in recent months, the U.S. Transportation Dept.'s Bureau of Transportation Statistics says. The largest decline -- 4.7% -- came from the seven network carriers, which have seen drops every August since 2002. Low-cost carrier employee numbers fell 0.8% for the month, and regionals were down 2.8%.
After years of following a strategy of non-investment, British Airways yesterday launched a lengthy process to finally replace its aging long-haul fleet, sending manufacturers a request for proposals for the replacement of 20 Boeing 747-400s and 14 767s. The RFP is only the beginning of what is likely to be an investment cycle spanning years. BA currently operates a fleet of 114 long-haul aircraft, among them 57 747-400s, 43 777s and 14 767-300s.
