{"id":187622,"date":"2026-05-11T13:30:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T13:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/?p=187622"},"modified":"2026-05-11T21:23:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T21:23:00","slug":"fedex-resumes-md-11-fleet-operations-following-faa-authorization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/2026\/05\/fedex-resumes-md-11-fleet-operations-following-faa-authorization.html","title":{"rendered":"FedEx Resumes MD-11 Fleet Operations Following FAA Authorization"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>FedEx <\/strong>has begun the reactivation of its <strong>McDonnell Douglas MD-11 <\/strong>aircraft after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted the grounding order previously imposed on the model following an exhaustive technical review process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The End of Grounding and Return to Service<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The FAA has formally authorized the return to operations for the MD-11 aircraft after validating safety protocols presented by the manufacturer, Boeing. This decision allows FedEx to reintegrate these aircraft into its global cargo network following a period of mandatory suspension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The grounding order was originally issued as a safety measure following a fatal accident last year at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky. That incident involved a United Parcel Service (UPS) MD-11 and resulted in 15 fatalities, including three crew members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Inspection and Maintenance Protocols<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To ensure a safe return to service, the FAA approved a strict maintenance framework that includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Comprehensive Overhauls:<\/strong> Compliance with new technical inspection requirements.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Joint Validation:<\/strong> FedEx worked in close collaboration with Boeing and the FAA to ensure that corrective actions were executed rigorously.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Initial Phase:<\/strong> To date, the company has validated the completion of these tasks on two of its 28 MD-11 units.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>\u2192 <a href=\"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/2026\/04\/american-airlines-unveils-new-passenger-experience-at-new-york-jfk-terminal-8.html\">American Airlines Unveils New Passenger Experience at New York-JFK Terminal 8<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Technical Investigation Findings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has led the investigation to determine the causes of the Louisville crash. Preliminary findings have been fundamental in establishing the new maintenance criteria:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Structural Failures:<\/strong> Fatigue cracks were identified in a support structure located in the left-hand pylon, the component connecting the engine to the wing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Critical Failure Point:<\/strong> Specifically, the issue was located in the component known as the bearing race.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This technical discovery served as the catalyst for the mandatory inspections that the entire MD-11 fleet had to pass before returning to the skies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Financial Impact for FedEx<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The operational suspension represented not only a logistical challenge but also a significant economic blow to the company. FedEx previously estimated that the costs derived from grounding its MD-11 fleet could reach up to $175 million, underlining the importance of this model&#8217;s operational efficiency to its business strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Next Steps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The investigative process remains active. For next week, the NTSB has scheduled a two-day investigative hearing. 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Postponed to 2027<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class='uagb-post__text uagb-post-grid-byline'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"uagb-post__text uagb-post__cta wp-block-button\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"wp-block-button__link uagb-text-link\" style=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/2026\/05\/new-delay-for-project-sunrise-delivery-of-qantas-first-airbus-a350-1000-postponed-to-2027.html\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"bookmark noopener noreferrer\">Read More<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FedEx has begun the reactivation of its McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":4316,"featured_media":187617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[222,230,1133,221],"class_list":{"0":"post-187622","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-airlines","8":"tag-aircraft","9":"tag-airline","10":"tag-fedex-2","11":"tag-usa"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11.webp",800,400,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11-150x150.webp",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11-300x150.webp",300,150,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11-768x384.webp",768,384,true],"large":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11.webp",800,400,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11.webp",800,400,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11.webp",800,400,false],"pk-small":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11-80x80.webp",80,80,true],"pk-thumbnail":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11-300x225.webp",300,225,true],"csco-small":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11-80x80.webp",80,80,true],"csco-intermediate":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11-200x140.webp",200,140,true],"csco-thumbnail":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11-380x220.webp",380,220,true],"csco-thumbnail-alternative":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11-300x180.webp",300,180,true],"csco-thumbnail-uncropped":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11-380x190.webp",380,190,true],"csco-medium":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11.webp",800,400,false],"csco-medium-alternative":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11-560x336.webp",560,336,true],"csco-medium-uncropped":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11.webp",800,400,false],"csco-large":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11.webp",800,400,false],"csco-large-uncropped":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11.webp",800,400,false],"csco-extra-large":["https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fedex-MD-11.webp",800,400,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Redacci\u00f3n - Aviaci\u00f3n al D\u00eda","author_link":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/author\/aad"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"FedEx has begun the reactivation of its McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted&hellip;","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4316"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187622"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":187628,"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187622\/revisions\/187628"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}