US freight specialist UPS has retired its entire Boeing MD-11F fleet, the company has disclosed in a full-year financial briefing.
One of its MD-11Fs had been involved in a fatal accident at Louisville in early November, and this led to the US FAA’s grounding of the type – a grounding which remains in effect.
The company had 26 of the type in its fleet at the end of 2025.
But it states that it has “accelerated” its fleet modernisation plans, and completed the retirement of the aircraft during the fourth quarter.
UPS says it is taking a non-cash $137 million post-tax charge to write off the fleet.
The inquiry into the Louisville accident is continuing, to understand why the aircraft shed its left-hand GE Aerospace CF6 engine during the take-off roll.
It failed to gain height after the loss of the powerplant and came down in an industrial area south of the airport.
Chief financial officer Brian Dykes says the company took the decision to speed the MD-11F retirement after “learnings” gained during its operation in the end-of-year peak.
“We leveraged the flexibility of our integrated network to seamlessly operate through the peak season,” he says.
This effort included repositioning some aircraft to the US from other parts of the world, increasing volumes of cargo moved on the ground, and leasing additional aircraft capacity.
Over the next 15 months, Dykes adds, the company will take delivery of 18 new Boeing 767s – including 15 this year – and it will “step down” the leased fleet as these aircraft are introduced.
UPS’s remaining owned and operated fleet comprised 269 aircraft at the end of 2025, including 43 Boeing 747-8F and -400s, 99 Boeing 767-300s, 75 Boeing 757-200s and 52 Airbus 300-600s.
