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.
Continental’s pilot union reached what its claims is a ground-breaking deal with Copa Airlines that would give Continental pilots preferential hiring rights at Copa. Under the deal, furloughed or retired Continental pilots who are under 65 would get priority when Copa hires foreign pilots. It was negotiated by the Air Line Pilots Association’s Continental unit, Copa and the Copa pilots union known as SIPAC. According to ALPA, the agreement is “unique in the airline industry and the first of its kind for ALPA.”
Airbus yesterday secured 11 more orders for its A350 program, including a second sale for the VIP jet version. Synergy Aerospace — owner of Latin American carriers Avianca, SAM, Oceanair and VIP — signed a memorandum of understanding for 10 A350-800s with options for 10 more. These carriers already have 47 A320 family aircraft and 10 A330-200s on order. Synergy has also reached an agreement with Rolls-Royce to use Trent XWB engines for the A350s in a deal that would be worth US$880 million at list prices.
Witnesses testifying yesterday at a House aviation subcommittee hearing on runway safety stressed that although FAA has made great strides in addressing the issue, runway incursions continue to climb. The most serious incursions, Categories A and B, actually declined from 69 incidents in Fiscal Year 1999 to 24 in FY2007, U.S. Transportation Dept. Inspector General Calvin Scovel said in written testimony. But in the first three months of this fiscal year, serious incursions have occurred at a rate that could reach the highest level in six years, he wrote.
