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.
Financial analysts believe that the disruptions at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 baggage system could eventually cost the airline more than GBP50 million (US$98.7 million). The airline expected to cancel 50 more T5 flights today and was struggling to move 20,000 bags to their owners. The airline hired FedEx to help deliver bags.
Cutting capacity is the most effective strategy U.S. airlines can use to overcome huge swings in fuel prices and a worsening economy, a leading analyst said. “Capacity is the only thing big enough” to contend with the size of cost challenges facing the airlines, Lehman Brothers Senior Airline Analyst Gary Chase said last week at the Phoenix International Aviation Symposium. He rejected arguments that the U.S. airlines “can’t shrink their way to profitability,” noting that just such a strategy drove the recent upswing the industry has enjoyed.
IATA is downgrading its industry profit forecast for 2008 — a move the group has signaled since the beginning of the year — due to the continuing bleak economic outlook. IATA now projects the global industry will make a US$4.5 billion profit in 2008, its second forecast cut in the past seven months. Last September, IATA predicted a profit of US$7.8 billion, but the group downgraded this to US$5 billion in December. At the time of its last upgrade, IATA officials warned there was still significant downside risk.
