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 is likely to “roughly breakeven” in the fourth quarter, but it could be the only legacy carrier to do so, according to JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker. The industry could post a combined operating loss of $275 million in the fourth quarter – not too surprising considering the industry has recorded a loss in about half of the last 38 fourth quarters, Baker notes.
Air passenger fatality numbers for 2007 “are well below long-term trends,” according to a new report from consultant group Ascend. Passenger fatalities were down 20% to 631 in 2007, compared with the annual average of 718.9 for this decade and an average of 954.4 for the 1990s. The 15 fatal accidents in 2007 were two more than the 2006 total, but were still slightly better than the annual average of 16 since 2000 and 24.2 in the 1990s.
With final numbers yet to come, it appears both Boeing and Airbus will each finish with close to 1,300 orders for 2007. The two companies will announce their yearend totals soon. The last Boeing update through Dec. 18 had the manufacturer at 1,213 orders, and Airbus reported 1,204 orders through Nov. 30. However, both have signed significant new deals since the last updates, and there are likely a few surprise orders that will be counted in the 2007 total.
