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.
Efforts to get the Concorde back flying are in full swing at Air France Hangar H3 at Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Airport, where the airline is doing routine maintenance on its five airworthy supersonic transports as it prepares to carry out planned modifications designed to make the planes airworthy again.
By Sean Broderick, AviationNow.com Maintenance&Safety Editor ([email protected])
While the aviation industry struggles to attract enough skilled workers to fill technical positions, Air France is adding staff to its growing maintenance department as fast as it needs them, and is focusing instead on boosting its third-party maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business. The carrier's maintenance staff stands at about 10,000, including 450 workers added last year. More will be needed soon as Air France pushes to grow its third-party activity while keeping its own, 240-odd-plane fleet humming.
The FAA has mandated a new set of Boeing-recommended inspections on 767 elevator power control actuator bellcranks, and the manufacturer is working on a redesign of a key part after one-time inspections ordered last year turned up PCA failures that weren't being detected by routine maintenance checks.
