Fedex to retire its' McDonnell Douglas MD-11 tri-jets earlier than planned...

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https://aviationweek.com/air-transport/ ... -11-fleets

FedEx, UPS Call Time On MD-11 Fleets

March 20, 2023

Air cargo giants FedEx and UPS,
the two largest remaining operators of the McDonnell Douglas-developed MD-11 freighter,
have both announced plans to begin retiring their fleets of aging trijets.

Between them, FedEx and UPS currently operate 94 MD-11s,
or almost half of the 200 aircraft delivered between 1990 and 2001.

But FedEx, which was launch customer for the factory-built freighter version,
has announced plans to phase out the trijet
as part of a broad ranging cost-saving and modernization campaign,
while UPS began retiring the first of its MD-11s in January 2023.

Dubbed the DRIVE program,
the FedEx streamlining effort aims to deliver $4 billion in cost reductions by the end of fiscal 2025.

Raj Subramaniam, FedEx president and chief operating officer,
says part of this effort is focused on reconfiguring the air network.

“This requires many steps, including plans currently being developed to phase out our fleet of MD-11s.

Our aircraft modernization program and use of [Boeing] 777s and 767s affords us the ability to flex our plans,” he adds.

Commenting at the company’s fiscal 2023 third quarter financial results call,
Subramaniam says the decision also reflects a flatter market forecast.

“Our fleet modernization strategy that we’ve been underway has allowed us to build a more agile and flexible fleet.

And so, we come to a fork in the road here,
are we going to see a high-demand environment or a low-demand environment?

And the MD-11 was that flex fleet.
And as we now look at the demand environment, we don’t see that high demand coming through.”

FedEx currently operates 54 MD-11s.

The carrier plans to replace them with a combination of 767-300F and 777Fs,
of which it has 27 and eight on order respectively.

The 767 is due to become FedEx’s single largest fleet type with 125 already currently in operation and 27 more on order.

The 53-strong 777F fleet is due to grow to 61 with the addition of eight further aircraft through 2025.

UPS, which accepted its first MD-11 in 2001,
says it will retire the first batch of six trijets in 2023 and currently has 40 remaining in service.

Like FedEx, it is reducing costs as cargo loads decline
and is replacing the older aircraft with more fuel efficient 767-300Fs.

The operator, which saw its 2022 fourth quarter operating profit fall by 3.3%,
currently operates 80 767s and has a further 27 on order between now and 2025.

Outside of FedEx and UPS,
the third largest MD-11 operator is Florida-based Western Global Airlines with 15 aircraft,
of which 10 are thought to be currently in storage at various locations.

The cargo sector enjoyed a boom in demand during the pandemic,
when grounded passenger flights meant less belly hold capacity was available for transporting goods.

Taking advantage of the strong cargo activity,
Airbus has launched the A350F and Boeing the 777-8F.
In recent months, however, cargo demand has weakened.

The cargo market made a slow start to 2023, with demand down 14.9% year-over-year in January and capacity up 3.9%, IATA said March 7.

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MD Douglas MD-11 (F) 48500 493 N575FE FedEx ferried 27mar23 MEM-VCV for part-out & scrap ex N485LS

https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news ... dianapolis

FedEx Express (FX, Memphis International)
has announced it will close its maintenance facility at Los Angeles International airport
once the lease of its hangar expires in June 2024.

The airline will then consolidate its maintenance operations at Indianapolis International.

FedEx leased the former Flying Tigers facility in 1988.
The airline's Los Angeles facility
maintains FedEx Express's diminishing fleet of McDonnell Douglas trijets.

The airline has already retired all MD-10-10(F)s and MD-10-30(F)s by the end of 2022,
and recently announced the general intention to gradually phase out the remaining MD-11Fs.

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MD Douglas MD-11 (F) 48447 464 N628FE FedEx ferried 06apr23 MEN-VCV for part-out & scrap ex HB-IWE

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MD Douglas MD-11 (F) 48597 540 N598FE FedEx ferried 22may23 MEM-VCV for part-out & scrap ex N1766A

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MD Douglas MD-11 F 48605 555 N612FE FedEx ferried 30may23 MEM-VCV for part-out & scrap

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https://simpleflying.com/fedex-plans-to ... t-in-2024/

Amid Softening Demand, FedEx Will Park Or Retire 29 Aircraft Over The Next Year

PUBLISHED 2 DAYS AGO
The plan will see the exit of nine MD-11s from the FedEx fleet.

On June 20th, FedEx released its latest financial results, revealing "ongoing demand weakness."

The freight mover reported that the performance witnessed in its most recent fiscal quarter
was due to both demand weakness and cost inflation.

Part of the company's plan to deal with this is to reduce its costs and park a portion of its fleet.

According to FreightWaves,
FedEx will reduce its operating costs by removing 29 aircraft from its fleet over the next year.

This will see aircraft either permanently retired or temporarily stored.
This move goes hand in hand with the operator's recent reduction in global flight hours.

Providing more detail about this plan,
FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam stated that 20 aircraft would be parked over the next year,
while an additional nine MD-11 freighters will be permanently retired.

This build's on the company's recent aircraft retirement actions,
which have already seen the retirement of the following 18 aircraft over the past year:

12x MD-11s
4x Boeing 757-200s
2x Airbus A300-600s

Presently, FedEx has 46 MD-11s, but these will be phased out by around 2027 or 2028.

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MD Douglas MD-11 F 48602 549 N606FE FedEx ferried 29dec23 LAS-VCV for part-out & scrap

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MD Douglas MD-11 (F) 48487 469 N586FE FedEx ferried 02jan24 MEM-VC for part-out & scrap ex N1753
MD Douglas MD-11 F 48602 549 N606FE FedEx ferried 29dec23 LAS-VCV for part-out & scrap
MD Douglas MD-11 F 48749 598 N613FE FedEx ferried 04jan24 ONT-VCV for part-out & scrap

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MD Douglas MD-11 (F) 48552 530 N594FE FedEx ferried 16jan24 EWR-VCV for part-our & scrap ex N1762B

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MD Douglas MD-11 F 48603 551 N610FE FedEx ferried 23jan24 MEM-VCV for part-out & scrap

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MD Douglas MD-11 F 48402 448 N602FE FedEx ferried 30jan24 MEM-VCV for part-out & scrap

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MD Douglas MD-10 -30(F) 46871 219 N311FE FedEx ferried 02feb24 VCCV-BAQ, for Transcarga International Airways ex LN-RKB

... a non-winglet'ed tri-jet this time...

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MD Douglas MD-11 F 48794 638 N623FE FedEx ferried 05feb24 ORD-VCV for part-out & scrap

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MD Douglas MD-11 (F) 48481 482 N585FE FedEx ferried 26feb24 LAX-VCV, for part-out & scrap ex N1759

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MD Douglas MD-11 (F) 48553 531 N595FE FedEx ferried 07mar24 MEM-VCV, for part-out & scrap ex N1763
MD Douglas MD-11 F 48603 551 N610FE FedEx ferried 08-11mar24 VCVHNL-SIN prior rtn to svc
MD Douglas MD-11 F 48748 595 N617FE FedEx ferroed 05mar24 MEM-VCV for part-out & scrap