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.
Australian leaders are trying to finally resolve a politically charged question that has vexed their predecessors for decades—where and when should Sydney's second airport be built? While it is making some headway, the government is faced with a tangle of conflicting interests that could stall the effort again.
New Zealand-based Altitude Aerospace Interiors is beginning work on a Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) based on a 737-700, which is the first time that interior completion of a new BBJ has been performed in the Australasian region. A Boeing spokeswoman tells Aviation Week that no BBJ completions have been done in Australia, and while Altitude has previously performed BBJ refit work, this will be the company’s first “green” aircraft of this type. The BBJ is owned by Samsung Electronics, Boeing says.
The FAA says its troubled en route automation modernization (ERAM) program is back on course, although a government watchdog says there are still large numbers of glitches with the new system that could again derail progress. ERAM is operating in some capacity at nine of the FAA’s 20 en route centers, with five of the nine using it as their prime air traffic control system, FAA Acting Administrator Michael Huerta told lawmakers at a congressional oversight hearing. He says the agency is on track to complete the operational rollout at all centers by 2014.
