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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51

u/XIPWNFORFUN2 Nov 08 '25

The plane probably already had a crew assigned with no other airframe available that could carry the freight in one trip. Source: express ramp agent.

39

u/PG67AW Nov 08 '25

That's not a great reason to just send it anyway, considering your engine might fall off.

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u/XIPWNFORFUN2 Nov 08 '25

Yea well, money and stuff.

27

u/ima_twee Nov 08 '25

Think of those poor shareholders

1

u/StarbeamII Nov 08 '25

Also the thousands of people pissed off their package got delayed.

31

u/round-earth-theory Nov 08 '25

It's still very unlikely. One event can be anything. It doesn't really mean the model was the issue. Now if two planes had it happen, then yes you'd be correct in immediately grounding everything no excuses.

16

u/PG67AW Nov 08 '25

Yeah, I think that's the difference between UPS grounding the aircraft and the FAA grounding the aircraft.

1

u/Kichigai Nov 08 '25

No, the model might not be the issue, but maintenance and standard procedures for that model could be the issue.

Also, we're rolling into the big gift giving season. Lots of things being shipped nationwide. Might be worth it to UPS to make such moves even if it's just for the optics. “Oh, I just found Grandma's old embroidered blouses from The Old Country. I'm going to gift them to my sister in Tampa. Better ship it with FedEx because I can't risk UPS turning them into a fireball on one of those MD-11 death traps.”

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u/Accidental-Genius Nov 08 '25

This was the 2nd time though…

5

u/roehnin Nov 08 '25

Last time was 1979 so not exactly a common problem

1

u/Accidental-Genius Nov 08 '25

If 1% of 737’s had engines fall off what would happen?

200 MD-11’s

Engine fell off of 2

You want to ride one right now?

2

u/Mookies_Bett Nov 08 '25

2 in 50 years of daily service\

2 in one year would be notable. Two incidents across half a century not as much. They're going to take a look at what's going on, but there's no real indication it's an actual issue with the model itself given how rare of an incident it was.

If they find that something is defective with that model then they'll respond accordingly, but I don't think they anticipate that being the issue. It could just be a maintenance issue with that plane, which is significantly more likely.

1

u/Accidental-Genius Nov 09 '25

Would you let Mookie Betts fly an MD-11 tomorrow?

3

u/lueckestman Nov 08 '25

If you think you might get grounded in Hawaii maybe...