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 Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) last week strongly criticized efforts by House lawmakers to overturn the outsourcing of FAA's flight service station operations. House lawmakers approved an amendment to fiscal 2006 transportation appropriations legislation that blocks any money from the bill being used for the outsourcing (DAILY, July 1). FAA awarded the flight service station outsourcing contract to Lockheed Martin earlier this year (DAILY, Feb. 2).
Frontier's yields grew nearly 10% in June, and the carrier reported the highest monthly load factor in the airline's history. Load factor increased 5.1 points to 82.3% in June, while passenger unit revenue was up nearly 17%. CEO Jeff Potter said he is "pleased that we recorded a strong revenue performance for the month," but echoed other airline executives by warning that "our success continues to be tempered by the escalating price of fuel which negates much of the positive performance in the quarter."
This year will see a new high point peak in the aircraft order cycle, with a peak year for deliveries likely in 2009, JSA Research said in its latest 10-year forecast released last week. JSA estimates that Boeing and Airbus will receive 1,329 orders this year, more than double last year's 647 orders and 10% above the last order peak in 1989. The delivery peak of 929 aircraft will occur in four years, when Boeing deliveries will surpass Airbus deliveries for the first time since 2002, JSA predicts.
