Sean Broderick covers aviation safety, MRO, and the hardware side of the airline business from Aviation Week Network's Washington, D.C. office.
Broderick's aviation career started in 1991, working for Airbus in Toulouse. His industry experience includes four years with an aviation consultancy, where he helped launch a U.S. Part 121 carrier; 12 years with the American Association of Airport Executives, where he served as editor of Airport Magazine; and 20 years in full- and part-time roles with Aviation Week writing primarily about safety and the aftermarket.
Broderick was named the 2020 Aerospace Journalist of the Year by the Aerospace Media Awards. He also shared in a 2020 Neal Award for Best News Coverage with Aviation Week Network colleagues. Broderick and Aviation Week colleague John Croft shared the 2015 Flight Safety International Cecil A. Brownlow Publication Award recognizing "significant contributions by journalists to aviation safety awareness."
He graduated from James Madison University with a B.S. in Communications ('91) and earned an M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications ('13) from West Virginia University.
FAA has given operators of nearly 500 U.S.-registered Boeing 737NGs until September 23, 2017 to replace autothrottle computers—a fix that eliminates a design flaw which contributed to a 2009 Turkish Airlines accident in Amsterdam. While the fix mandates changing the GE-supplied computer, the directive’s purpose is getting new software, contained on the computers, installed.
The multi-year shakeout that is reshaping U.S. airline networks is nearly complete, but smaller airports are suffering until the bitter end as carriers continue their shift toward strategies that emphasize bigger, more lucrative markets, a Moody’s analysis concludes.
