With every grounded MD-11, the trijet era slips further away. After the UPS crash and a sweeping FAA order, have we already seen its last US takeoff?
A Crash, An FAA Order, And A Trijet In Trouble
On November 4, a UPS MD-11 freighter lifting off from Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport lost its left engine and pylon seconds after rotation, then plunged into an industrial area and exploded, killing 14 people on board and on the ground.
Within days, the FAA issued an emergency directive that grounded every MD-11 and MD-11F worldwide, and later extended parts of that directive to certain DC-10 series aircraft because of structural similarities in the engine pylon.
What was first pitched to operators as a brief pause has now become something much more serious. Boeing, which merged with McDonnell-Douglas in 1997 and is now classed as the manufacturer by default, told operators that the jets will require “more and highly invasive inspections, as well as repairs and part replacements,” a message echoed in internal communications at UPS and Western Global.
According to Reuters, inspection guidelines that would allow the MD-11s to return to service are “unlikely” to be ready before 2026, which effectively wipes the type out for at least one more peak season and maybe longer. This is specifically a challenge due to the heavy cargo requirements ahead of the busiest shopping period (and thus air freight) of the year.
That is not just a technical footnote. It is a direct hit on the remaining operators who have kept this quirky, beloved, sometimes controversial trijet alive.
Western Global’s MD-11 Crisis
No one is feeling the shock quite like Western Global Airlines. The boutique cargo carrier is almost synonymous with the MD-11, the workhorse of the fleet.
A detailed breakdown from Aerospace Global News shows Western Global with a fleet of 19 aircraft: four Boeing 747-400F freighters and fifteen MD-11Fs, with an average age north of 30 years. All fifteen MD-11s are now parked under the FAA directive, and only the 747s are still flying.
In an internal memo, the airline’s VP of human resources called the situation “devastating,” noting that Western Global has maintained a perfect safety record but is “the most negatively affected by the UPS crash” and that the current situation is “untenable” and threatens the company’s survival.
Originally, Western Global believed a non-invasive inspection regime might get the MD-11s back in the air by mid-November. That hope evaporated when Boeing informed operators that extensive structural inspections, repairs, and part replacements would be required. The grounding is now effectively open-ended, and Western Global has begun furloughing MD-11 pilots in significant numbers.
For a small cargo specialist that lives on thin margins and contract flying, that is not just painful. It is existential.
UPS, FedEx, And A Cargo Network Scrambling For Lift
The grounding hurts every MD-11 operator, but for UPS and FedEx it lands right in the middle of the Christmas rush.
UPS and FedEx together operate just over 50 MD-11s out of their global fleets, which might sound modest until you remember that these are long-haul widebody freighters used on trunk routes where belly cargo capacity is limited.
UPS has parked its entire MD-11 fleet and is leaning harder on its Boeing 747-8F and 767 networks, while also leasing in more lift than usual. FedEx is redeploying spare aircraft, chartering supplemental capacity, and shifting some flows to 777s and 767s.
From a customer’s perspective, boxes will still move. Big shippers are masters at contingency planning, and they insist that core service levels will be protected during the holidays. Behind the scenes, though, network planners are juggling aircraft, crews, and slots to cover the missing capacity. Analysts already expect some lanes to see less flexibility and potentially higher seasonal rates while the MD-11s sit grounded.
The trijet was never the most efficient widebody, but it filled a useful middle ground in cargo operations. It could swallow serious freight, had good legs, and came cheap on the secondary market. Take the MD-11 out of the equation suddenly, and the industry has to stretch a finite pool of 747s, 777s, 767s, and A330 freighters a little thinner.
The industry may have to look at pulling recently retired aircraft from desert aircraft graveyards and balance the cost of getting them ready for service against the lost revenue and fleet strain.
The MD-11, The DC-10, And A Fleet At The End Of Its Rope
The MD-11 is not a young airframe. Production ended in 2000 after just 200 frames, and the remaining jets are now roughly 30 years old. Despite that, it’s unique size, shape, and range have made it a lasting integral part of the global cargo fleet all of these years later.
Before the Louisville crash, Aerospace Global News estimated that around 70 MD-11s remained in global service, nearly all of them dedicated freighters.
The DC-10 story is even further along. Mainstream passenger service in North America effectively ended when Northwest retired its last DC-10 in 2007, and the final scheduled passenger DC-10 flights anywhere were operated by Biman Bangladesh Airlines in 2014.
In recent years, DC-10s in US skies have mostly meant aerial tankers and freighters. Even those are now dragged into the MD-11 drama because the FAA’s emergency actions cover ten related DC-10s. None of this proves that the MD-11 and DC-10 are finished forever. But it does change the math.
The DC-10 had a problematic past with a number of fatal crashes including United 232 which resulted in a new way to control aircraft with only engine thrust. It was also a titanium metal piece that was improperly installed in Paris on a Continental DC-10 that ended up on the runway at Charles de Gualle that punctured a tire on the Concorde. The C0ncorde’s tire debris then ruptured a fuel tank resulting in the crash of Air France 4590, killing all 109 on the aircraft, four on the ground, and ending operations of Concordes worldwide shortly thereafter.
If Boeing and the FAA ultimately require heavy structural modifications, operators will need to decide whether to invest millions per frame in a 30-plus-year-old design or accelerate retirement and move capacity to younger twins. The AP has already noted that UPS, FedEx, and Western Global were likely thinking about phasing out their MD-11 fleets over the coming years even before the accident.
A grounding that stretches into 2026 might be the nudge that turns “eventual retirement” into “we will not bring them back.”
Have We Already Seen The Last MD-11/DC-10 Fly In The US?
Have we seen the last MD-11 or DC-10 rotation in the US?
From a scheduled service perspective, there is a real chance the answer is “yes” or at least “yes, for most of them.” With the fleet grounded by emergency directive, inspection criteria still under development, and a multi-month (or multi-year) clock ticking, it becomes easier for operators to quietly move on.
Even if a handful of MD-11s and DC-10 tankers return to service after compliance, they may be relegated to niche roles and seasonal flying rather than the daily backbone runs many enthusiasts still associate with the type. You might still catch one on an aerial firefighting mission or a repositioning hop. The age of seeing MD-11s lined up on the cargo ramp at Louisville or Memphis, though, could be ending right now.
For spotters, the transition was always coming. The Louisville crash and resulting grounding just condensed the timeline into a single brutal chapter.
Remembering The DC-10 Across The Midwest
For a whole generation of travelers, the DC-10 was the widebody that meant “you are going somewhere big.” Across the Midwest in particular, it was part of the backdrop of my childhood. United and American ran DC-10s through hubs like Chicago O’Hare, Denver, and Dallas, on a regular basis. Northwest stretched them across the upper Midwest and out to Hawaii longer than anyone else.
I remember details even as I child I didn’t really embrace at the time. The slightly cavernous feel when you stepped through Door 2L. The way the center block of seats seemed to float under that high ceiling. The sound of three engines roaring at takeoff that felt different from a twin. On one particular trip, I recall being so relieved when we got to the big jet in Chicago, sick as a dog but was able to stretch across three middle seats for a three-hour flight in coach and it felt like the plane was just for me.
The DC-10 even managed a kind of pop-culture immortality. This time of year, airport scenes in Home Alone showcased classic trijets lurking at the gates at O’Hare and in the distance, silver and polished, tail engine perched high above the fuselage. For many, that is what “going to Europe” or “flying at Christmas” looked like on screen. As a personal note, I also loved pointing out to my daughter what First Class used to look like with wide leather seats that absolutely did not convert into a bed.
Those airplanes are long gone from scheduled passenger service. The MD-11 picked up the freighter baton and soldiered on into the cargo era. Now even that continuation is in doubt.
What Comes After The Trijet Freight Era?
The industry will adapt. It always does. UPS and FedEx will lean on 747s, 777s, 767s, and A330 freighters, invest in additional capacity, and keep parcels moving. Western Global may or may not make it through, but someone will eventually step into whatever gaps are left in the ACMI and charter market.
What is harder to replace is the character of the MD-11 and DC-10 themselves. They were imperfect, charismatic machines that straddled two eras, born when three engines solved range and performance challenges that twins could not easily handle, and retired into a world where ETOPS twins made that third engine look like pure overhead.
As investigators continue their work in Louisville and Boeing and the FAA sort out what it would actually take to fix these airframes, operators will tally the costs and make cold decisions. From the outside, it feels increasingly likely that at least some MD-11s will never fly again and that the DC-10’s remaining roles could shrink even further. It’s a shame that the 777-X program continues to delay as the 777-8 could be an excellent bridge to the modern era.
If that turns out to be true, the last “real” MD-11 or DC-10 flight in US skies may already have happened, maybe on some unremarkable night shift from Louisville to Honolulu or a cargo run out of Memphis. A normal departure, a routine landing, logged and forgotten, that quietly closed the book on one of aviation’s most distinctive silhouettes.
What do you think?
Aware of the sadness involving the UPS MD11 crash, I had not considered the full impact on air freight. Perfect read for a snowy Sunday morning. Thanks Kyle.
A minor correction. Neither FedEx or UPS operate the A330. They both operate the A300-600
Correct. As of today, UPS has 52 A300-600s and FedEx has 51 A300-600s in its fleet.
Yes to the above…it’s the A300 not the A330. Last week a plane roared over my house north of Seattle, WA on the way to BFI, and I looked on Flightradar24 to see that it was a UPS A300…. I think it may have been the first time I ever noticed one of those pass over my area–just wish I’d been outside to see it!