Originally Posted by
cmd320
Indeed. I mean, to be fair, I believe it's just a matter of certification, otherwise the A321S and A321H are identical aircraft, but still. Major fines likely coming AA's way once the FAA sifts through the case.
Not exactly, as I understand it. There are two facets of ETOPS certification.
The first is the aircraft type must be tested and approved - A320 family aircraft are ETOPS-180 certified from this side.
The second is the airline must convince the FAA of their ability to conduct ETOPS flights safely and gain ETOPS operational certification. This includes more rigorous preventive maintenance schedules, as well as certified mechanics and flight crew.
The "H" is said to have extra tankage, though I've not seen it documented, and it definitely has safety equipment (e.g. rafts) and an enhanced maintenance schedule for certification.
I flew on Aloha 737-200 that were ETOPS certified (weirdly enough) and the maintenance schedule was more rigorous.
Alaska operates a subfleet of 737-800s that are ETOPS certified; these are the ones that fly to Hawaii, and can be discerned from non-ETOPS certified aircraft by the "ETOPS" on the nose gear door and the flower lei under the Eskimo portrait depicted on the tail.
Maybe AA should paint a two meter wide gold band on the forward fuselage of their ETOPS A320 family aircraft; they might be more obvious.
Maybe some fundi at AA still believes ETOPS is the acronym for "Engines Turn Or Passengers Swim"?
The FAA won't be laughing, I suspect.