Cargo carriers split on MD-11 future after Louisville crash
UPS retired its MD-11 freighter fleet after a November 2025 crash in Louisville, while FedEx kept its trijets flying and now expects to keep them until 2032, according to an account of the two carriers' responses.
A UPS Airlines freighter crashed in Louisville in November 2025. The airline said the left engine pylon separated. After that, two cargo carriers went opposite ways on the McDonnell Douglas MD-11.
UPS stopped flying the type instead of carrying out long-term airframe overhauls during the grounding. It recorded a $137 million after-tax write-off and retired all 27 of its MD-11 freighters in January 2026.
FedEx kept its MD-11s. Its hub sits across the runway in Memphis. The airline funded mandatory structural inspections of the engine pylons and returned its grounded trijets to service. The type's final retirement at FedEx is now expected in January 2032.
Global supply chains were left working around the loss of a large share of MD-11 capacity, with the Boeing 767 positioned as the aircraft taking over those cargo routes.
Sources
- simpleflying.comThe Aircraft Replacing The Iconic McDonnell Douglas MD-11 On Cargo Routes