Why are they bringing back the MD? Because there is limited charter slack in the global system and its going for champagne rates? To curry favor with Boeing who is facing a massive liability on the aircraft that could last decades? Because Raj and Rich wants it for a plan for total global air cargo dominion? We don't know. It could be any or all of these things, simultaneously.

That said, we do have the actions of the recent past, where mainline flying (as defined as turbojet aircraft > 60000 MGTOW) that was done by MSL pilots is now being done by ASL pilots. I mean, that is a fact. We can deny it, and EMBFlyer can kick and scream that its all a huge conspiracy theory Council 22 in his tiresome fashion, but here we are. We don't know definitively why the MD was brought back, and we likely never will.

And Fedex doesn't have many planes on order but the fleet is remarkably static given the growth in global air freight which analysts assess at about 4.5% YOY. As far as fleet losses, I believe that BWI A300 and SGF 757 will both be scrapped. Fedex continues to shop for aircraft publicly, and accept deliveries from orders over a decade old. So I don't know if your assertation that Fedex is a actively buying aircraft is as strong an argument as you believe it to be. Taking delivery? Sure. But certainly on the tail end of that.

And, for all the talk of hiring, Fedex hasn't added a pilot to the MSL, since, when exactly? Remember when Fedex opened and closed its hiring website within 24 hours a few months back? I do. I think regardless of the reasons, it was a stunt intended to demonstrate what we see in this thread, namely the cultivation of hope in the absence of evidence.