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.
Spirit Airlines has tapped Acro Aircraft Seating to supply 30 shipsets of passenger seats, including five earmarked for in-service Airbus A319s that could help persuade the carrier to increase its commitment for on-order aircraft. In addition to outfitting the A319s, the order covers 25 of the carrier’s 117-aircraft A320-family backlog. The Aviation Week Intelligence Network Commercial Fleets database lists Spirit’s in-service fleet as 54 aircraft, including 29 A319s, 23 A320s, and two A321s. Its backlog consists of 37 A320s, 30 A321s, and 50 A320neos.
A European Aviation Safety Agency draft rulemaking tackles a series of recommendations from accident investigators and working groups that call for beefed- up standards and maintenance practices for aircraft flight and data recorders (FDR). The key changes would mandate higher-capacity cockpit voice recorders (CVR) on large aircraft, ban “obsolete recording technologies,” such as magnetic tape, and improve post-crash location broadcasting capabilities.
EASA has mandated inspections and a reduced life limit for Airbus A320-family trimmable horizontal stabilizer actuators after tests by the manufacturer and supplier United Technologies Aerospace Systems revealed unexpected wear.
