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.
Mexican aviation authorities are stressing that FAA’s decision to downgrade the nation’s safety rating is due to a lack of inspectors rather than quality problems.
While airline capacity growth has generally been keeping pace with traffic this year, a few signs are emerging that supply of seats may be starting to climb too fast. Through the first half of 2010, passenger capacity on international routes returned “at a rate more or less matching the expansion in demand,” according to a financial report from the International Air Transport Association. But in June, capacity rose at a faster rate than demand—increasing 10% year-on-year versus a 6% hike in traffic.
Mexican transportation officials are vowing to hire more aviation inspectors to reverse the U.S. FAA’s recent decision to downgrade Mexico’s aviation safety rating. The FAA on July 30 dropped Mexico from category one to category two, restricting code-sharing operations between U.S. and Mexican carriers. This mainly affects American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, which partner with Mexicana and Aeromexico, respectively.
