MD-11's domestic plan

airbusfxr · 01-12-2008, 08:33 PM

The rumor is that all MD11's will be brought home to operate ONLY domestic routes. The planes are not able to make service due to OOS events along with parts issues. MD11's will domicile at SDF and operate to ONT-PDX-MEM-BOS-ATL-DFW until they can be sold (at a loss due to a bad game plan) or retired. I cannot understand why we wasted so much time, money and resources (the sim etc) instead of buying the 747-400 sooner. I guess we again "stepped over a dollar to pick up a penny" but what can be done. With the MD-11 operating domestic routes will service to our customers suffer.

tourists24 · 01-12-2008, 08:41 PM

what exactly is a MD-11? What is it comparable to on the passenger plane level? And why is it a disaster? Im not being obnoxious (on purpose...lol). Just really ignorant to our air operations

MrFedEx · 01-12-2008, 08:54 PM

FedEx will buy them...we love them because they're cheap(like FedEx) and nobody else wants them. When we first bought the "Electric DC-10", aircraft mechanics had to jumpseat along on most flights because there were so many bugs. I think FedEx was actually the launch customer. Truth be told, their capacity and fuel burn is actually a good fit with most of our air routes. From what I've heard, we've managed to work out most of the problems.

I believe most of ours that we didn't buy new came from American Airlines....I'm not so sure about the origins of the rest of the fleet. I'm sure all the American people were high-fiving each other when they unloaded those turds. The MD-11 is what happens when you try and retrofit new technology to an old airplane(the DC-10) that wasn't designed for it. I know that they've flipped one over backwards due to the stretched fuselage and some pilot error, and that there have been other issues with the plane.

Seriously, they will probably show up in our fleet. The transaction,if it happens, will be very hush-hush.

scratch · 01-12-2008, 08:56 PM

A MD-11 was built by McDonald-Douglas starting at the end of 1986. It was one of the first wide bodies and is a three engine plane currently out of production and flown as cargo planes. I know this because I have got to play on the Flight Simulators at Delta. Delta doesn't fly them anymore, but they make money training pilots from other airlines.

upsgrunt · 01-12-2008, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scratch

A MD-11 was built by McDonald-Douglas starting at the end of 1986. It was one of the first wide bodies and is a three engine plane currently out of production and flown as cargo planes. I know this because I have got to play on the Flight Simulators at Delta. Delta doesn't fly them anymore, but they make money training pilots from other airlines.

Hey Scratch,
Did that simulator have Frasca stickers on it? Thats my stop! They make those things and ship them all over the world.

Steve

scratch · 01-12-2008, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by upsgrunt

Hey Scratch,
Did that simulator have Frasca stickers on it? Thats my stop! They make those things and ship them all over the world.

Steve

I don't remember a Frasca sticker on them. Delta has the Simulators in two buildings located next to their corporate offices at the north side of the Atlanta Airport. I wish I could find the photos I took, I would post them. They look like big white boxes sitting up on hydraulic cylinders. They are kept in an climate controlled environment and are in use pretty much 24/7. A friend of mine works there and we usually take our Boy Scout Troop in there when the schedule is slow after Christmas. The MD-11 Sim is old and has an older graphics display out of the windshields. The newer Boeing Sims are housed in a different building. All of them are an actual cockpit where Flight Crews train practicing full flights where they earn actual flying time. We just go in and do Takeoffs and Landings in them. They are cool, you feel all the bumps in the runway and they pull Gs when you take off in them. They are hard to land in manual mode, usually we just crash.

upsgrunt · 01-12-2008, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scratch

I don't remember a Frasca sticker on them. Delta has the Simulators in two buildings located next to their corporate offices at the north side of the Atlanta Airport. I wish I could find the photos I took, I would post them. They look like big white boxes sitting up on hydraulic cylinders. They are kept in an climate controlled environment and are in use pretty much 24/7. A friend of mine works there and we usually take our Boy Scout Troop in there when the schedule is slow after Christmas. The MD-11 Sim is old and has an older graphics display out of the windshields. The newer Boeing Sims are housed in a different building. All of them are an actual cockpit where Flight Crews train practicing full flights where they earn actual flying time. We just go in and do Takeoffs and Landings in them. They are cool, you feel all the bumps in the runway and they pull Gs when you take off in them. They are hard to land in manual mode, usually we just crash.

That pretty much sounds like what they build at Frasca. It's all real cool looking, high dollar stuff. Let me know if you find a picture.

wornoutupser · 01-13-2008, 11:32 AM

Hmmm...Looks like we get aluminum UPS license plates next!

thom1842 · 01-13-2008, 04:26 PM

All I know about the MD-11 is that the everyone at my gateway hates the step-loading procedure. We usually have two A-300s, a 757, and a DC-8, but then for peak we get a 747-200, two A-300s, one 757, and one MD-11.
People always hate loading topside on the MD-11s because it is so different that the 'bus. Loading almost the entire right than left than pushing the right back is radically different that what they are used to I guess.

How many others on the site here work in the Air Operation? I know most are drivers or ground workers, do we have many air-types here?

MrFedEx · 01-13-2008, 04:40 PM

If your MD-11's were dropping out of the sky daily, we'd probably still buy them. FedEx will be especially interested because the expensive cargo conversion has already been done, and the price will probably be right. Most of our MD-11's were originally constructed as passenger aircraft and later re-configured for cargo when the airlines figured out they were a piece of crap. They generally only fly twice a day as freighters, and UPS can't rely on their availability? Pretty scary. These things are the Yugos of the aircraft world, but Fred loves them.

Making license plates out of them is probably a better idea for UPS. Frankly,I'm surprised they bought them in the first place given the MD-11's poor reputation. Isn't UPS known for doing their homework before large capital outlays for items like airplanes?

25yrvet · 01-13-2008, 08:06 PM

Even though the MD-11 was made by McDonald Douglas, didn't Boeing just recently do extensive work on them?

Big Babooba · 01-14-2008, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 25yrvet

Even though the MD-11 was made by McDonald Douglas, didn't Boeing just recently do extensive work on them?

That's a possibility since McDonnell Douglas was merged into Boeing in 1997.

blacknproud · 01-14-2008, 08:04 PM

UPS bought them for their lift internationally, they were betting on their being reliable....not. Although better than the airbus....you breath on them wrong it's "red". As for ups getting rid of them I don't think that's a top priority, replacing our 8's is first, the our 757's considering they don'y have the lift we require, domestically or internationally. I know we bought more 767's and will be doing that more, we also have more options for the whale 400 of coarse. No way UPS is biting on Airbus's huge whale...that was a big FLOP.

airbusfxr · 01-25-2008, 09:20 PM

The newest rumor is the UPS will be buying the B777-200ER. This airliner will be able to provide UPS with the lift needed for the future. The DHL/FDX merger will provide UPS with many problems in the long term and if UPS is not competative think what will happen. The Airliner Aquisition Team can either make or break UPS, lets hope they make a "business decision" that will help UPS grow.