Originally Posted by
WRCSolberg
If the flight is only four hours as they say, it shouldn't be a problem at all. Heck, LAX-HNL is ~5 hours and many airlines run twin engined 757s and 737s.
O/T, but ETOPS and smaller a/c related.
Did SEA-OGG on a 753, not the most comfortable, even w/exit row. Lots of SoCal to Hawaii flights on the 737 & 757 - interestingly, the diversion airport at the midpoint isn't LAX, but SFO.
757's are crossing the Atlantic on a regular basis now with CO. Not sure who else is doing it at the moment, but NW is retrofitting several 752's with winglets for TATL ops.
The longest CO segment, BCN-EWR seems to be having trouble making it lately (headwinds); it's been a regular visitor to Goose, Gander, Bangor, Boston, Stephensville, and Stewart lately.
If you'd like, there's also 737 and A319 flights TATL operated by PrivateAir in all J class on behalf of LH & KL (i.e. KL's IAH-AMS 737-700 flight).
Regardless of how large the plane is, a twin is a twin and ETOPS applies on overwater/transpolar flights. The A330/767/777, which seem to be the most common on TATLs, and the 777 & A332 on many TPACs, all must be ETOPS certified for such routes and some no-go zones do exist. The GC mapper site referenced above will show the no-go areas.
Cheers,
SDF_Traveler