FAA ruling could be a big plus for Boeing

The Boeing Co. could soon score a victory in its battle with Airbus, with a favorable settlement over a key question that many air travelers no longer think about.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the Federal Aviation Administration is close to ruling that airliners with two jet engines are just as safe as those with three or four engines. What that will do is greatly ease restrictions that the FAA and other regulators have traditionally placed on twin-engined jets flying over oceans, deserts or the North Pole.
This should be good news for Boeing's 777 program, because it will allow airlines to fly twin-engine jets on more-direct routes over long distances.
The rule in question was created in the early days of commercial air traffic, when engine reliability was a real question. The FAA decreed that all two-engine airplanes carrying passengers must fly routes keeping them within 60 minutes' flying time of the nearest emergency landing field.
07/06/06 Bryan Corliss/The Herald, US

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