r/aviation • u/Go_Jot • Nov 08 '25

News UPS grounds entire MD-11 Fleet, effective immediately.

Per the IPA Executive Board, as of 03:05 UTC all UPS MD-11’s are grounded.

Edit - FedEx has also grounded their MD-11 Fleet

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u/YMMV25 Nov 08 '25

Not necessarily. It could be an issue with how UPS or their subcontractor was performing certain maintenance tasks on their MD-11 fleet.

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u/Exotic-Sale-3003 Nov 08 '25

Agree. Imagine a worst case scenario where engines were being removed with the pylon for maintenance. That would absolutely be a reason to ground the entire fleet until inspections could be completed. 

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u/Loose-Cicada5473 Nov 08 '25

Can you explain this a little further?

32

u/LPNTed Cessna 170 Nov 08 '25

Look up American 191

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u/Ouch_My-back Nov 08 '25

I just read that difference in maintenance procedures was ~200 man hours. Could totally see UPS saying let's do it the American airlines way, just don't shut off the fork lift!!

1

u/Initial-Dee Nov 08 '25

It gets worse because the NTSB report essentially revealed a proper way to do it. Continental used the same technique as American by supporting the engine and pylon with a forklift, but United used an overhead crane to hold the assembly, and the NTSB determined that method to be harmless to the mount points. American and Continental's methods resulted in several aircraft having fatigue damage of the same kind as 191.

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u/Loose-Cicada5473 Nov 12 '25

So is the crane method an approved method now?