ETOPS

I'm t- I'm so glad that I've, I've had the opportunity to fly a few times on the 380, because, you know, it's, it's gonna get to the stage where you will literally have to go to the Middle East from Heathrow or wherever to, um, you know, to utilize it or go on a 380.

And let's be, let's be honest, h- had it not been for, uh, the ETOPS operations of twin-engine aircraft and the reliability of twin-engine aircraft, um, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

Um, because it wasn't that many years ago when Virgin Atlantic were doing their, um, uh, adverts saying, um, about using four engines for long haul, and, um, that just doesn't make sense anymore, uh, because of the, uh, the economics of it.

If, if this aircraft had come around 10 to 15 years earlier, it would've had a far bigger, uh, market share than it did.

There's nothing good in anyone's life going anywhere near 21 Air." And then there's this, quote, "Almost every pilot that left ABX," that's another cargo airline, "for 21 Air was asked to resign because of how poorly they did in training.

The only person I'm aware of that wasn't asked to resign was a prospective captain that, uh, got mad after he failed his ETOPs check and, uh, left out of spite.

The only thing I can confirm is that almost all the guys who left ABX for 21 Air did so because ABX asked them to resign during training." There are many more posts we'll get to in a second, but just by themselves, these two comments paint a, actually a very familiar picture.

If you remember, it was just a few years ago when, uh, another Amazon Prime cargo plane, which was operated by a different carrier called Atlas Air, crashed into the water while on approach to, to Houston.

And the reason they tried to cover it up is because they didn't want to have to lose their overwater.

Their North Atlantic overwater, we call it ETOPS.

They didn't want to lose their ETOPS qualification, fly across the North Atlantic, go to the United States.

Because if the FAA, GE, or Boeing found out what actually happened, then they would have lost this privilege.

Other airlines have lost it, too.

And Christos' in-depth investigation into what makes Sydney specifically have a problem, in contrast to the rest of the East Coast in Australia when it comes to air services, staffing shortages, um, and how technical it is.

And then Ross, uh, told our audience what ETOPS is, which for the non-pilots of the audience, it would be a, uh, fresh learning, really.

And it's something that's pretty, pretty important as we learn, extended twin engine operations, and it goes to show just how far an aircraft can get on one engine before we need some sort of, uh, emergency landing platform, essentially, landing, uh, strip.

Anyway, look, we've got a lot to cover this week 'cause it has been a pretty busy two weeks.

The specific procedural knowledge for extended range operations, that's trained.

You do an ETOPS course, you learn the fuel management rules, you learn the diversion planning.

It's not something you absorb through osmosis by sitting in the right seat of a 737 for a decade.

So the system works, but for reasons that are largely unrelated to the stated

Archaea's

737-700s needed temporary ETOPS exemptions from Israel's Civil Aviation Authority to operate these extended overwater sectors.

Those exemptions come with operational restrictions, stricter alternate airport requirements, more conservative fuel planning, specific routing constraints.

On a 10-hour flight, that's a long time to stare at the seat back.

Or

you divert

more readily than an airline with full ETOPS certification and a fleet of aircraft

designed for the mission.