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.
U.S. legacy airlines saw mainline unit revenues rise by 7.9% in August, and the increase is expected to grow significantly from this month as capacity cuts take effect.
The International Lease Finance Corp. believes it can meet all its debt obligations until early next year by borrowing the full $6.5 billion available under credit agreements. The drawdown comes from three unsecured revolving credit facilities. The request was made Sept. 16, and by Sept. 18 the company had received about $6.4 billion of the total. These loans will be due on Oct. 15, 2009, Oct. 14, 2010 and Oct. 13, 2011.
Continental believes Hurricane Ike will end up costing it about $50 million, although the storm on Wall Street shouldn’t hurt the airline too badly. The airline notes that the final cost of the hurricane will depend on variables such as how quickly business travel recovers in Houston, and insurance cost recovery. Continental was forced to shut down operations at its Houston hub from midday on Friday, Sept. 12 to Sunday, Sept. 15.
