Southwest ‘close’ to ETOPS certification
Southwest Airlines says it is “close” to attaining extended twin-engine operations (ETOPS) certification for planned Hawaii service, even though it remains to be seen if the airline will be able to sell flights by year-end with weeks to go before 2018 wraps. “ETOPS is close,” Southwest executive VP Greg Wells said. The carrier is waiting on the FAA to review manuals, and is anticipating setting dates for table top exercises and validation flights, he adds. It is not immediately clear when the flights will take place, with Wells calling it a “wild card”. “The good news is that all the planning has gone superbly,” he adds. Southwest had committed to selling Hawaii flights by end-2018, and the airline is still holding to that goal, says Wells. But he also acknowledges that this could slip into Q1 of 2019. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2018-12-06/unaligned/southwest-2018close2019-to-etops-certification
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Southwest ‘close’ to ETOPS certification
Southwest Airlines says it is “close” to attaining extended twin-engine operations (ETOPS) certification for planned Hawaii service, even though it remains to be seen if the airline will be able to sell flights by year-end with weeks to go before 2018 wraps. “ETOPS is close,” Southwest executive VP Greg Wells said. The carrier is waiting on the FAA to review manuals, and is anticipating setting dates for table top exercises and validation flights, he adds. It is not immediately clear when the flights will take place, with Wells calling it a “wild card”. “The good news is that all the planning has gone superbly,” he adds. Southwest had committed to selling Hawaii flights by end-2018, and the airline is still holding to that goal, says Wells. But he also acknowledges that this could slip into Q1 of 2019. <br/>
