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.
Recent approvals of an airline merger and an international joint venture by European and U.S. regulators highlight the progress being made toward liberalization in the air transport industry. However, they also remind us there is still a long way to go.
Robert Wall (London), Jens Flottau (Frankfurt), Adrian Schofield (Washington)
Regulatory and labor concessions are speeding several European network carriers’ momentum toward economic recovery, though labor and government taxation obstacles remain. A key move occurred July 14 when the European Commission granted Oneworld alliance partners British Airways, Iberia and American Airlines antitrust immunity that allows for closer coordination of operations. Although the decision is important for American, it is particularly critical for the European partners, whose pace of recovery has been slower.
Era Systems Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax, Va.-based SRA International, has won a contract to provide advanced surface surveillance systems at Russia’s Sochi International Airport. Era will deploy a multilateration system, as well as automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) at Sochi. The airport is undertaking a modernization project to meet expected traffic increases when the city hosts the 2014 Winter Olympics.
