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.
American yesterday reported a $291 million net profit for the second quarter, a substantial improvement from last year's $58 million profit and the carrier's best quarterly result in six years. Very strong revenue performance outweighed the usual headaches of rising fuel prices. American is enjoying "solid revenue momentum," although "fuel costs continue to raise the bar in terms of revenue generation," CEO Gerard Arpey said. If fuel prices had remained at second-quarter 2005 levels, this year's profit would have been $665 million, said the airline.
House aviation subcommittee Chair John Mica (R-Fla.) wants to prohibit airports from using federal money to upgrade their facilities to accommodate the Airbus A380 unless and until a U.S. passenger carrier buys the super jumbo.
Airbus marked the third day of the Farnborough Air Show with four orders totaling 61 aircraft, making up for a relatively slow start to the show in terms of new order announcements. The largest contract was signed by AirAsia, which ordered 40 A320s with options for a further 30. This brings AirAsia's total A320 order to 100, in addition to the seven of this type the carrier already operates. All of the A320s will be fitted with 180 seats, and will eventually replace the carrier's Boeing 737-300 fleet.
