Few commercial aircraft have had as dramatic a second life as the massive McDonnell Douglas MD-11. An aircraft once marketed as a long-range, three-engine successor to the DC-10, it ultimately found its enduring niche hauling freight at night, linking hubs across oceans with a distinctive tail engine and a reputation that aviation fans will instantly recognize. In late 2025, this story took a dramatic turn when a UPS-operated MD-11 fatally crashed near Louisville, triggering a sweeping response that resulted in virtually the entire remaining MD-11 fleet being grounded.

With regulators and manufacturers currently busy developing inspection and repair criteria for the existing fleet, the few remaining operators have been forced to park aircraft and reshuffle other aircraft to cover their services. They can lean on charters during the busiest shipping window of the year. That has revived a question that has hovered over the MD-11 for a decade as passenger fleets vanished, and freighter numbers slowly shrank over time. At this moment, many have begun to ask whether the trijet has finally exited the industry for good. We analyze the MD-11’s entire history, how it performed throughout its operational life, who was still flying the jet in 2025, and what the Louisville accident actually changed. We also ask what the realistic pathways are for any kind of service return. For now, the MD-11’s future depends on timelines, economics, and public confidence.

A Brief Overview Of The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 And The Purpose It Serves

The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is a long-range widebody aircraft that was originally developed from the Douglas DC-10, with a design that featured two underwing engines and a third that was placed at the base of the vertical stabilizer. McDonnell Douglas launched this program in the late 1980s, and the prototype aircraft first flew in January 1990. The type entered airline service not long after, in December 1990. Production of the type ultimately ran to just 200 aircraft before the line was closed under the new ownership of manufacturer Boeing. Here are some specifications for the MD-11, according to technical documents from the manufacturer Boeing:

On paper, the MD-11 looks like a modernized version of the Douglas DC-10. It features a stretched fuselage, a larger wing with winglets, and next-generation engines. Most consequentially, the new two-crew all-glass cockpit removed the flight engineer. This was offered as a passenger aircraft, a combi aircraft, a convertible freighter, and a production freighter, with freighter models ultimately proving the most commercially successful, with designs centered around main-deck pallets and high payload capacity. In practice, the aircraft arrived at an awkward moment, with twin-engine widebodies like the Airbus A330 and the Boeing 777 rapidly improving in efficiency and economics, while the MD-11 struggled early to meet advertised range and fuel-burn targets up until performance improvement work was able to reduce drag and improve overall performance.

These commercial performance discrepancies were why the MD-11 disappeared from passenger fleets significantly before it vanished from the skies. The aircraft’s afterlife came through cargo, where acquisition costs remained low, and networks prioritized reliability on long sectors. The jet’s ability to monetize heavy payloads made it another exceptionally valuable asset for most airlines. The aircraft, to this day, continues to be the largest trijet ever built.

A Look At The McDonnell Douglas MD-11’s Operational History

From an operational perspective, the MD-11’s story is separated into its commercial passenger and freighter careers. In passenger service, the aircraft was initially popular with airlines. It could deliver the capacity of a DC-10 while also offering a modern cockpit and longer range. But, early in its life, the aircraft became known for missing these range and fuel-burn targets, which mattered the most to long-haul carriers that were looking to fly these ultra-long-haul routes at a full payload.

This performance gap, which was compounded by the rapid rise of extremely efficient long-haul twinjets, made the MD-11 a tough sell in the 1990s and accelerated passenger retirements in the 2000s. Even so, on medium- and long-haul missions, the aircraft served reliably for major operators, and the type’s two-crew cockpit helped it fit the industry’s broader shift away from three-person flight decks. The jet’s lasting impact in the market came after passenger demand moved on, and freighter conversions and factory-built MD-11Fs turned the airline into a cargo workhorse.

Airline freight networks value volume, payload, and acquisition economics, and the MD-11 was thus an excellent offering in all three categories, especially as used airframes increasingly became available from retiring passenger fleets. By the time KLM ended its last scheduled passenger MD-11 flights in 2014, the trijet’s public identity had already flipped, as it was no longer seen as a passenger aircraft but rather a large freighter.

Which Carriers Still Operate The MD-11 In 2025?

By 2025, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 had effectively become a niche freighter flown by a tiny club of operators, and the center of gravity had shifted to the United States. The two big names were UPS Airlines and FedEx Express, which used MD-11Fs as part of their long-haul and hub-and-spoke cargo systems, feeding sort facilities and linking major domestic gateways to destinations in Europe and Asia.

Collectively, those two carriers accounted for the overwhelming majority of active MD-11s flying, and their fleets were already aging into the 30-plus-year range at the start of the year. This led to extended downtime, something which became increasingly disruptive during peak shipping seasons. A third, much smaller operator, Western Global Airlines, also heavily relied on the type, using MD-11Fs to support contract freight flights and ad-hoc widebody freighter capacity.

Outside these players, the aircraft was essentially gone from front-line commercial service. The last scheduled passenger flights ended years earlier, and former cargo operators like Lufthansa Cargo had already retired the type as newer twin-engine freighters quickly took over. In other words, the MD-11 was not rare by 2025 but rather obscure, and only a few network operators relied on the aircraft in a significant capacity. There just were not that many that found its network economics particularly appealing.

A Tragic Accident Led To Widespread Groundings

The inflection point came when a UPS MD-11 departing from Louisville, Kentucky, tragically crashed on November 4, 2025. Early reports described a catastrophic failure sequence that occurred shortly after takeoff, including the separation of the jet’s left engine that separated, and the jet crashed into ground facilities, which ultimately produced a large post-impact fire. Authorities reported 14 fatalities and at least 23 injuries, making it one of the most consequential cargo-airline accidents to occur in modern United States history.

In the days that followed, this response moved faster than an investigative timeline, as UPS immediately announced that it would be grounding its McDonnell Douglas MD-11 fleet out of an abundance of caution, noting that the decision would be taken proactively and tied to manufacturer recommendations. Not long after, regulators formalized this pause as the FAA issued emergency actions that effectively grounded the nation’s MD-11 fleet until all jets could be inspected and any required repairs or parts replacements could be completed under newly defined criteria.

This created a rare situation in which an entire remaining fleet type, already down to just a handful of operators, was quickly and simultaneously frozen. For carriers, the practical effect was immediate as holiday capacity plans had to be rewritten around other aircraft types, short-term leases, and charters while engineering teams awaited final inspection scopes and parts pathways. At the same time, the NTSB’s investigation continued, with findings continuing to slowly evolve.

Will The MD-11 Ever Fly Again?

This is thus the biggest question that emerges. The true answer is that the MD-11 will probably take to the skies again, but certainly not quickly. The FAA has indicated that a return-to-service path is gated by inspection criteria being finalized, and the process could certainly run into 2026. This matters because the remaining operators are not casual users, with UPS and FedEx building schedules, crews, and hub plans around the model. Any permanent retirement decision will lead to network redesigns for major operators.

If inspections and repairs remain manageable, there is some strong incentive to restart at least part of the fleet’s operations, as the aircraft are already owned, crews are already trained, and replacement lift is costly. The opposite outcome is thus plausible. If the needed checks become deep, repetitive, or part-heavy, the MD-11’s age becomes a more decisive factor.

Small users of the type are undeniably the most exposed, because they lack the spare parts capabilities. Thus, the MD-11’s next flight could happen, but certainly not for months.

What Is The Bottom Line?

At the end of the day, the MD-11 is an aircraft that offers exceptional long-range capabilities. The jet, for decades, has not met the profile desired by most commercial airlines, but it has had a fascinating second life as a successful freighter.

By 2025, there was still a small, yet relevant, group of operators of the type, ones that aimed to use the jet to serve long-haul cargo destinations. An aircraft crash this fall led the entire fleet to be grounded, and now airlines are faced with the difficult question of how and when to return the model to service.

The challenge now for regulators is to determine if the aircraft can safely return to the market. Legacy operators, especially FedEx and UPS Airlines, are keen to return the type to the market if feasible.