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.
Qantas yesterday postponed its long-awaited fleet plan decision until next week, although the carrier did approve the international expansion of its Jetstar subsidiary, which will be flying many of the new aircraft.
Air New Zealand said it will decide by Dec. 19 whether it will go ahead with plans to outsource heavy maintenance for its long-haul fleet, or accept at least some parts of a counter-proposal drafted by unions that would keep the work in New Zealand and reduce job cuts.
American this week reported that it stayed with its strategy of keeping a lid on mainline domestic capacity and lifting international seat numbers in November. The carrier's load factor rose by 4.2 points to 77.6% for the month. Traffic was up 6.6% on a 0.8% capacity hike. On the domestic front, American saw traffic rise 6.2%, and capacity decline 1.8%. International traffic grew 7.5%, and capacity increased 6.1%. American Eagle reported November load factor growth of 5.6 points to 72.7%. Traffic rose 25.7% on a 16% capacity gain. -AS
