UPS said in its Q4 2025 earnings report released Tuesday that the company has completed the retirement of its MD-11 fleet. A phaseout began several years earlier as part of a broader fleet modernization effort, but was completed on an accelerated timeline last quarter, the report said.
“Regarding the MD-11 aircraft, UPS accelerated its fleet modernization plans, completing the retirement of its MD-11 fleet during the fourth quarter of 2025,” the company said.
UPS first outlined its plans to retire the MD-11 fleet in early 2023, when it announced an initial phaseout in favor of newer, more fuel-efficient types. At the time, the company said it would begin removing MD-11s from service as Boeing 767-300 freighters entered the fleet, with the first aircraft pulled from operations in January 2023, according to a FreightWaves report.
UPS Airlines President Jim Joseph said then that the MD-11s “were a mainstay on international routes” before transitioning primarily to domestic operations, adding that they would be replaced by new 767s as deliveries ramped up.
The accelerated MD-11 retirement closely followed the Nov. 4, 2025, crash of UPS Flight 2976 shortly after takeoff from Louisville, Kentucky. That accident is still being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.
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