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.
U.S. carriers, under a government mandate to quickly make cockpit doors more secure while industry works on specifications for more durable, permanent retrofits, scrambled in October and November to install crossbars and deadbolts. Two airlines, however, opted for what their executives feel are longer-term approaches.
FAA on Oct. 17 published an updated SFAR 92 -- the special regulation that paved the way for operators to modify cockpits. The original document, issued Oct. 9, covered passenger operators only (O&M, November 2001). The new version, dubbed SFAR 92-1, broadened the rule's coverage to include ``all operators that hold an air carrier certificate or operating certificate issued under Part 119 and that conduct operations under Part 121.''
America West is contesting the severity of fines proposed by FAA for maintenance-related violations, arguing FAA should reduce the penalties because the airline voluntarily disclosed many of the infractions, and that it was responsive to corrective actions ordered by the agency.
