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.
Repair station oversight was a hot topic inside the Washington, D.C., beltway for a few weeks as 2005 came to a close, starting with a Senate subcommittee hearing in mid-November and cresting with the release of a DOT Inspector General report on non-certificated repair facilities a month later. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee's aviation subcommittee convened on Nov. 17 for a hearing on aviation safety. Among the topics on the agenda -- "contract" maintenance.
Third-party maintenance's next turn in the spotlight began on Dec. 15 with an IG report on airline usage of non-certificated repair stations. While the use of such facilities is a well-known and accepted part of aviation maintenance, the IG determined that "non-certificated repair facilities are now performing more significant work than anyone realized."
Rolls-Royce's refusal to provide overhaul information to an independent repair station -- the same information it gives third-party facilities in its approved maintenance network -- is anti-competitive and a violation of FAA regulations, the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) charges.
