Originally Posted by
sltlyamusd
Does ETOPS certification have a big price tag or is it more expensive to maintain the ETOPS aircraft? Just curious why they only do it on some of the -800s and -900s, rather than all?
AFAIK it's both cost and also operational complexity (inspections after X overwater legs, has to fly certain routings, etc.)
And the non-ETOPS birds must enjoy slightly lower fuelf burn too without hundreds of lbs of extra safety equipment...