United Postal Service CEO Carol Tome said Tuesday that the company is officially retiring its fleet of McDonnell Douglas MD-11 cargo planes after one of them was involved in a deadly crash in Louisville.
Tome told analysts on its fourth-quarter earnings call that the shipping giant has taken a “systematic programmatic approach to modernizing” its global air fleet, which included “the decision to accelerate our plans and retire all MD-11 aircraft in our fleet.” That was completed in the fourth quarter.
Tome also said that the company will replace much of that capacity with what she described as a “more efficient Boeing 767 aircraft.” Over the next 15 months, the company plans to receive about 18 new Boeing 767 aircraft, with 15 expected to be delivered this year.
UPS believes these changes will equip the company with a more “efficient global network positioned for growth, flexibility, and profitability.”
UPS plane crash in Kentucky. (Credit: X / @WT_Mason)
The MD-11 fleet had already been pulled from service in November, when the company decided to ground the aircraft following its involvement in a deadly Nov. 4 crash.
The UPS cargo plane’s engine fell off and burst into flames shortly after takeoff from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. The Honolulu, Hawaii-bound flight crashed at around 5:15 p.m., hitting a nearby industrial area and killing 14 people, including the three crew members and 11 people on the ground.
Smoke rises from the site of a UPS cargo plane crash near the UPS Worldport at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville, Kentucky, on Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Leandro Lozada/AFP via Getty Images)
Black box data indicates the plane only reached about 30 feet above ground level prior to the crash. Images released by the National Transportation Safety Board show a fire igniting on the left engine.
Initially, UPS had planned to bring the fleet back into service and began working to meet Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) guidelines before returning to service.
The Associated Press reported that the process, which was initially expected to take weeks, would extend several months, according to a memo from UPS Airlines President Bill Moore.
A UPS Boeing 767 aircraft taxis at San Diego International Airport on August 15, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Kevin Carter)
“Regarding the MD-11 fleet, Boeing’s ongoing evaluation shows that inspections and potential repairs will be more extensive than initially expected,” Moore wrote in the memo.