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.
Industry trade groups are urging the FAA to put the brakes on a well-intended guidance-streamlining effort that would result in mass cancellation of official agency interpretations that are not housed in one of three online repositories. The FAA’s move, outlined in a Dec. 3 memorandum from Flight Standards Service (FSS) Director John Duncan to all FSS employees, would cancel any guidance not found in the Flight Standards Information System, the Regulatory and Guidance Library, “or elsewhere on www.faa.gov,” effective January 14, 2014.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), citing a “redefined” risk assessment, is halving the proposed compliance window for operators of Rolls-Royce-powered Airbus A330s to replace an incorrectly manufactured thrust reverser component. The proposed directive, released Dec. 18, would give affected operators 12 months to replace thrust reverser door cowl hinge sleeves Nos. 3 and 4. The proposal replaces a September draft directive that would have given operators 24 months. EASA says the parts in question were not correctly heat treated.
Jazz Aviation parent Chorus Aviation, looking to diversify a revenue stream almost entirely dependent on Air Canada, has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with GA Telesis to launch a regional aircraft component and spares support venture. The deal, announced Dec. 13, would combine Jazz’s experience supporting its own fleet with GA Telesis’s expertise in providing components and spare parts to maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) companies. The venture would start out focusing on Q400s but has eyes on backing legacy Bombardier Dash 8s as well as CRJs.
