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.
The on-time performance for U.S. carriers dropped five points to 70.9% in July, the U.S. Transportation Dept. said last week. The on-time rate was also 4.3 points worse than the June rate of 75.2%. DOT says just over 8% of all flights were delayed by weather, compared with 6.55% last year. The cancellation rate for July was 2.2%, up from 1.6% last year. The DOT statistics are for 20 reporting carriers.
Both runways at New Orleans International Airport yesterday were restored to 24-hour availability for hurricane relief flights, as FAA scrambles to repair air traffic control facilities at this and other airports hit by Katrina. FAA said New Orleans could handle nine landings per hour, but only in visual flight rule (VFR) conditions. Yesterday morning the airport had adequate ramp space for nine aircraft, but this capacity was expected to increase to 12 by the end of the day. Firefighting and rescue equipment was also reported functional.
Boeing said the new 787 cockpit unveiled this week has a lot of commonality with the 777, and avionics which can accommodate upgrades when new technology is developed. The first pictures of the 787 cockpit were shown to airline customers Wednesday, and these were met with an "enthusiastic response," said 787 program head Mike Bair. No mockups have been completed yet. Bair said customers wanted as much commonality with the 777 as possible, and "we have clearly achieved that."
