Why did big airplanes go from four engines to two engines?
In: Engineering
Two large engines generally are far more fuel efficient than four smaller engines
However, historically, aviation regulators were initially unwilling to allow twin engine aircraft to fly extended distances far away from a diversion airport, fearing that a single engine failure could progress to a double engine failure. That’s part of the reason why many of the earlier transoceanic flights relied on large 3-4 engine aircraft running between large airline hubs. (A hub and spoke network).
As time went on, aviation regulators became convinced that jet engines, maintained under stringent procedures, are reliable enough that flights that might travel 2-5 hours away (at single engine speed) from a diversion airport don’t pose a notable safety risk. These ETOPS rules paved the way for “long and skinny” point to point routes using smaller twin engine jets.
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