Boeing and U.S. Aerospace Industry

After the Nov. 4, 2025 Louisville crash that killed three crew and 12 people on the ground, UPS announced it has retired its entire MD‑11 freighter fleet—about 9% of its aircraft—took a $137 million after‑tax charge and is leasing planes, shifting aircraft from overseas and taking delivery of 18 Boeing 767s over the next 15 months to rebuild capacity. The FAA has grounded all MD‑11s while it reviews “all the facts and circumstances,” and NTSB investigators reported a fractured left‑engine mounting spherical bearing race—known to have failed at least four times previously and discussed in a 2011 Boeing service letter that said it “would not result in a safety of flight condition”—may have contributed to the crash; Boeing issued a brief statement supporting the NTSB probe but did not address the report’s findings.