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.
F AA failed to accurately assess the impact of its recently proposed flight and data recorder upgrades on smaller entities, in part because the agency didn't use an accurate definition for what constitutes a small business, said the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Advocacy, in comments filed on FAA's recorder rule.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in early June was behind schedule on 19 of its 27 "significant" rulemakings, according to a regular Department of Transportation report, and some key maintenance-related rules were in perpetual slides. Among the biggest sliders: a final rule on ETOPS and a draft rule on fuel tank inerting.
Representatives of charter and on-demand operators are concerned that FAA's proposed voice and data recorder rule doesn't adequately analyze the impact of the regulations on Part 91 and Part 135 operators, leading one association to call for a "halt" to the rulemaking until a more detailed review can be done. The scheduled airline community, meanwhile, largely supports the proposed rule, but has concerns about the provisions that apply to aircraft with datalink capability.
