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.
Airbus is projecting an active secondary market for the A340 family—an outlook that could be bolstered by Rolls-Royce’s (R-R’s) efforts to reduce shop visit costs of Trent 500 engines outfitted on -500s and -600s variants of the four-engine jet. The airframe manufacturer’s product-support forecast sees about 325 A340s still in service in 2017, down only by about 25 from today’s total. Notably, it expects about 90 aircraft to change hands in the next four years, including 26 A340-500s/600s.
Among airlines, manufacturers and the finance community, news of yet another mid-life aircraft being harvested for parts will rekindle the debate about adjusting the useful life of an airframe.
