New Rules Could Spell End For Four-Holers

Is the FAA close to settling the ETOPS question? The Wall Street Journal says yes... and the ruling could favor twin-engine commercial aircraft like those now sold by Boeing.

ETOPS officially stands for "extended twin engine operations." The gist of it is... the distance between emergency airfields for planes operating over oceans... deserts... or the North Pole. In 1984, the interval between possible landing points was 60 minutes for any twin-engined jet aircraft with an engine failure; that was doubled to 120 minutes in 1985.

In 1987, it went up to 180 minutes -- allowing for 767 operations across the North Atlantic. That rule was eventually extended to the 777, as well.

Still, those aircraft have to stay within three hours of a suitable airport... which can add miles to long-haul routes -- especially those over the Pacific. Airbus has even turned this into a marketing ploy, by coining the slogan, "4 engines 4 the long haul," in ads for its own -- ahem -- four-engined A340.

That slogan may be soon be out of date. The Journal reports the FAA is close to changing the ETOPS rule once again... allowing 777's to operate an unprecedented five-and-a-half hours between emergency landing sites, and allowing more economical flights for Boeing.

"It's where the real world was headed," said Teal Group analyst Richard Aboulafia. "This is the next logical step."

That could also spell the end for the Airbus A340 program, which has already been taking hits for being less efficient than its twin-engined competitor from the US.

The FAA's version of ETOPS could be released later this year... and European regulators are now working on similar rules.

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.faa.gov