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.
Mexico has the potential to be a boom market for air travel, but the Mexicana airline group is not just sitting back and waiting for demand to materialize. The carrier has made major changes across all of its operations, positioning it to capitalize on untapped domestic traffic as well as new international opportunities.
Mexicana is reshaping its fleet as it takes delivery of new aircraft types, but the carrier is also planning ahead for the orders it will need to fulfill its long-term strategy. CEO Manuel Borja hopes to place an order next year for either Airbus A350s or Boeing 787s as long-haul fleet replacements. Meanwhile, the carrier is already looking at options to replace its new Boeing 717 fleet once the leases expire.
American’s domestic traffic declined faster than capacity in December, although its systemwide load factor improved. Mainline traffic dropped 1.6% on a 3.3% capacity cut, increasing load factor by 1.4 points to 80.6%. Domestic mainline traffic fell 2.1%, compared with a 1.8% capacity decline. Load factor dropped by 0.2 points to 80.7%. International traffic was down 0.7% on a 5.6% capacity cut, and load factor was up 3.9 points to 80.4%.
