Trijets to be Replaced by 767-300 Freighters

Founded in 1907 and headquartered in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United Parcel Service (UPS) is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company and one of the world's largest shipping couriers. The company operates the planet’s fourth-largest cargo airline and flies to over eight-hundred worldwide destinations—the most of any air-carrier, cargo or passenger. UPS’s 260-aircraft fleet operates from hubs in Ontario, California (ONT), Dallas, Texas (DFW), Rockford, Illinois (RFD), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania PHL), and Cologne, Germany (CGN). The Airline is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky (SDF).

In 2023, UPS began the planned retirement of its aging MD-11 freighters. The passing of the venerable aircraft into the annals of aviation history marks the actualization, in part, of UPS’s ambition to renew its fleet with more modern, fuel-efficient aircraft and reduce overall costs as worldwide shipping volumes decline.

The fourth-quarter of 2022 saw the shipping giant’s operating profit fall over three-percent as high inflation, the Russo-Ukraine conflict, and protracted Chinese COVID restrictions combined to slow global economic growth.

UPS’s Q4 2022 earnings report included news of the company’s intention to retire six of its 42 MD-11s in 2023. The first of subject aircraft—a 26-year-old jet—was pulled from fleet service on 02 January. The old tri-jet, after a brief flight, arrived at Victorville’s Southern California Logistics Airport (VCV), at which Aircraft maintenance and storage company ComAv Technical Services operates a 240-acre open storage facility (read “boneyard”) with a capacity of over five-hundred aircraft, plus hangars in which several more may be maintained. After the fashion of boneyards, the dry desert environment at SCLA is eminently conducive to the long-term storage, if not perfect preservation of aircraft.

UPS’s MD-11s will be replaced by 28 factory-built 767-300 freighters previously ordered from Boeing—seven of which are slated for 2023 deliveries. The twin-engine 767s offer lower operating costs, better reliability, and fewer carbon emissions than the three-engined MD-11s.

UPS Airlines president Jim Joseph remarked: “Our MD-11s have served us well since we took delivery of the first aircraft in 2001. They were a mainstay on international routes, and more recently have operated primarily in the U.S. We will begin replacing them with new, more efficient 767s, with deliveries set to begin later this year.”

The MD-11 has a maximum payload of more than 207,000-pounds, and space for 26 containers on the main deck and 13 additional in the lower hold. The 767, conversely, is smaller, with a 132,000-pound payload capability and room for 24 large containers and seven lower-deck shipping units.

In response to lower international volumes, UPS adjusted its network during Q4 2022. Average daily export volumes declined four-percent from the prior year, owing largely to a ten-percent drop in shipments out of Asia. UPS set forth that it had canceled more than two-hundred flights originating in China and Hong Kong, a move that allowed the cargo hauler to utilize 98% of its available capacity on Asia outbound flights while maintaining service levels.

McDonnell Douglas launched the MD-11 program on 30 December 1986. Assembly of the first prototype began on 09 March 1988, and the aircraft made its maiden flight on 10 January 1990. The remainder of 1990 was a busy time for the MD-11 program, with the aircraft earning FAA type certification on 08 November, the inaugural MD-11 delivery made to Finnair on 07 December, and the model’s entry into service occurring on 20 December.

The last of the two-hundred MD-11s built was completed in October 2000, three years after Boeing’s 1997 merger with McDonnell Douglas. Notwithstanding the construction of a number of MD-11 freighters, the majority of the specimens in service with worldwide cargo operators are converted passenger aircraft.

FMI: www.ups.com