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.
A scan of recent supply chain- and logistics-related product announcements underscores that aviation is placing a premium on keeping real-time tabs on high-value goods. On the production line, manufacturers are marking parts with tags designed to help everyone from line mechanics to vendors. In the aftermarket, using sophisticated sensors to monitor parts and key shipments—from components sent to bail out a grounded aircraft to the tooling needed to do the job—is becoming bigger business.
The FAA says conclusions reached in a years-in-the-making industry-government report on how flight deck automation is affecting flight path management both validates many existing agency initiatives and provides specific direction for additional areas of focus.
New information from Airbus has prompted the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to drastically reduce a proposed compliance window for replacing a faulty Airbus A320-family landing gear door component tied to at least one gear-up landing. The revised proposed airworthiness directive (PAD) would give A320-family operators as little as one year to swap certain main landing gear (MLG) door actuators. An original draft, issued in August, proposed a five-year window. In September, EASA issued a second version, cutting the interval to three years.
