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.
A strong showing at the Farnborough Air Show boosted Airbus' order total through July to 200, although Airbus still lags rival Boeing in terms of order numbers this year. Nearly half of the Airbus total comprised the popular A320, followed by 25 orders for the A321 and 46 for the A319. The A350 led twin-aisle orders with 13, followed by 11 orders for A330 models. Boeing has 518 net orders through Aug. 1, including 400 for the 737 and 77 for the new 787.
Lower July delay numbers -- helped by a new FAA flow initiative -- have dragged the delay total for this year almost back to last year's levels, according to traffic data supplied by the agency. There were 47,649 delays in July compared to 58,471 in the same month last year, FAA said. The total for the calendar year through July was 262,932 delays -- slightly ahead of the 261,130 delays for the same period in 2005. On-time gate arrivals and departures are both at about 76% for the fiscal year to date, which is slightly better than FAA's target rate.
Continental announced last week it has converted 12 Boeing 737 orders into orders for the 737-900ERs, becoming the first U.S. carrier to place firm orders for the -900ER. The 12 -900ER orders are scheduled for delivery in 2008. The order conversion does not change Continental's total of 65 firm commitments for 737s, the carrier said, and it is still able to convert more of these commitments to -900ERs. Last month, Continental ordered an undisclosed mix of 24 737s and 10 787s.
