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 U.S. government report on commercialized air traffic control systems in other countries found that although these organizations have seen efficiency improvements with no drop in safety, they were financially much more vulnerable to the slump in the airline industry that began in 2001.
Continental this week reported that its load factors were down slightly across the board in July, although unit revenue again showed a healthy increase. Consolidated load factor dropped 1.5 points to 83.9%, and mainline load factor was down by the same amount to 84.6%. Domestic mainline loads were down by just 0.1% to 86.4%, and international mainline load factor dropped 3.1 points to 82.5%. Traffic increased 7.8% and capacity was up 9.6%. Domestic mainline traffic grew 2.4% on a 2.5% capacity increase.
Boeing yesterday announced it will sell its plant in Arnprior, Canada, which produces components for commercial jets, the latest move in Boeing's drive to divest some manufacturing operations to concentrate on systems integration.
