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.
Qantas is having to draw down some of its QantasLink domestic services to account for a spike in pilot losses. The changes, affecting QantasLink’s Queensland and New South Wales routes, are due to “higher than normal pilot attrition rates,” the carrier said. Qantas will suspend services on “a limited number of routes,” reinstate some services previously suspended, and putting larger aircraft on some routes. The changes will be in effect until at least July.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) says he does not expect the FAA reauthorization bill will be passed this year — and adds that the general aviation community bears a lot of the blame. Rockefeller has often criticized GA groups for attacking the $25-per-flight user fee included in the Senate version of the bill, which Rockefeller views as a compromise.
FAA believes a new agreement with China will help the U.S. and China better harmonize their future ATM systems. The two nations have signed a memorandum of understanding covering their cooperation on NextGen initiatives in both countries. FAA and Chinese civil aviation authorities plan to establish a NextGen Air Traffic Management Steering Group, and a FAA delegation will travel to China in April for a NextGen workshop. The U.S. and China already have a Joint Air Traffic Steering Group that was formed in 2004.
