Originally Posted by
jonnyjetprop
Somebody was spreading a rumor at World that UPS is unhappy with the MD-11 and is pulling back on using them in the trans pacific market. Any comments?
The MD is a very good aircraft for UPS. It does have some MX reliability issues, but that's really caused by a combination of several factors. First, we fly this plane a lot. And I mean a lot. There just isn't much down time to fix the little or recurring things. Second, our line MX folks have never received specific MD training at many of our gateways. Now most of the maintainers are knowledgeable and some are great, but many times simple issues take a while to fix due to unfamiliarity with this electric jet.
The MD is too small for several of our global trunk routes. This is a good problem to have, so the 747-400 will naturally pick up this load. This actually will free up aircraft for some domestic legs where the volume requires the MDs size. However, flying this jet from MEM-SDF-MEM each night won't help its MX reliability. I forsee the MD doing more domestic short haul and trans cons, and more intra-Asia Clark hub trips too.
This is really all the result of our international growth and need for more domestic lift. While the MD is no Boeing (really), I think its been a great plane to fly. It is truely a wonderful long range international jet with all the bells and whistles. With that said, I'll move over to the -400 in a heartbeat as soon as the new Cologne domicile is officially announced.
