At 10:25 AM 5/7/2003 -0400, Gerry Foley wrote: >I hope ETOPS does not mean higher costs. I thought it merely said that >you had proved that you were doing right what you ought to do anyway. The bookkeeping to prove that you're still doing things right might be more expensive. Some of the procedures, such as not using the same mechanics to do the same repair to both engines on a particular plane, might be more expensive, but they add safety margins that any flight would benefit from. (ETOPS or not, I'd hate to have the same mechanic leave out the o-rings from all the engines, whether it's a UA 772, a LH 744, or an EA 1011 out of MIA.) I doubt that ETOPS adds enough cost to make an ETOPS 772 inherently more expensive than a 744. If it was, why, Boeing would be delivering a lot more 744s than 772s, right? >Gerry Nick