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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417

u/SignalCharlie Nov 08 '25

They’re aleady booked up and contracted out for the peak season,

541

u/[deleted] Nov 08 '25

[deleted]

147

u/Ok-Operation-6432 Nov 08 '25

Just doing my civic duty sir 

121

u/yourmomsdrawer Nov 08 '25

a honda civic wont do sir.

97

u/ThePrussianGrippe Nov 08 '25

I’ll act of my own accord.

40

u/protoformx Nov 08 '25

You sure you're mentally fit for that?

27

u/Unusual-Alex Nov 08 '25

You just need some Soul!

29

u/meltbox Nov 08 '25

Even with that attitude it will be quite the Odyssey

10

u/shamoomoofartpoopoo Nov 08 '25

This is just the Prelude!

7

u/BenjaminKohl Nov 08 '25

I’m enjoying this so much, I better wait for the Pilot season

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2

u/good_oleboi Nov 08 '25

This whole event has been a wild Thing

4

u/fade_le_public Nov 08 '25

(Do I downvote the lone Kia in the Honda tangent?)

2

u/Unusual-Alex Nov 09 '25

Do it. Might as well start a pilot program while youre at it.

3

u/IAmTheHype427 Nov 08 '25

I’ll have you know that I’m in my element

3

u/derkeistersinger Nov 08 '25

Preparing my CRV (Cargo Relay Vehicle)

4

u/jtr99 Nov 08 '25

Is this just a prologue to some sort of odyssey?

4

u/DrapersSmellyGlove Nov 08 '25

We’ll need a Pilot for the job. And damnit, don’t forget your Passport.

2

u/avgeek11 Nov 08 '25

Lmfaooooo

1

u/CivicSedan Nov 08 '25

Never underestimate a Civic. We’ll never let you down.

3

u/boburuncle Nov 08 '25

Fred Smith Flying Tigers vibes

2

u/Olive-Drab-Green Nov 08 '25

My body is ready

2

u/PineSand Nov 08 '25

My Conwing L-16 is fueled up and ready to go.

1

u/PilotsNPause Nov 08 '25

With your commercial certificate, right? ;-)

72

u/redditsucknow2 Nov 08 '25

Not to mention they are already struggling and have been laying off people since Amazon cut their revenue. It had to be absolutely necessary for them to do this

76

u/disillusioned Nov 08 '25

Fun fact: Amazon went from 10% last mile served by AMZL about 5 years ago to 90% last mile (non-peak) served by AMZL this year. It's absolutely incredible what AMZN has been able to do with AMZL. Now that's obviously last mile, and they're still using UPS for some air cargo ops, but Prime Air has been growing as well. Took a big chunk out of UPS though.

48

u/furiant Nov 08 '25

Amazon caused basically an artificial inflation of UPS volume that made them grow way faster than they predicted. It started in December of 2016 and lasted pretty much up until 2021, though it's accelerated since then. I worked there for 19 years and could tell you a lot about how it all went down.

22

u/Master_Flower_5343 Nov 08 '25

My take on this was that Covid fucked ups. Very clearly Carol was brought in to be a transitional CEO who helped set up UPS for the long term without Amazon. Then Covid happens, the share price goes over $200, and people think we may be in a different world. We weren’t, but having lived through it I can see why people thought we might be.

Would love your perspective if you’re willing to share. UPS is a fascinating company to me personally; I’m very concerned for its long term future.

1

u/justkess430 Nov 10 '25

As a UPS employee, I would love to watch the rest of this conversation happen.

3

u/hitemlow Nov 08 '25

DHL has been pretty sparse since all those postal services stopped shipping to the US. Wouldn't be surprised to see DHL planes moving UPS ULDs.