FedEx plans to remove 29 aircraft from its fleet this year.
CEO Raj Subramaniam said on Tuesday’s earnings briefing that the Express unit will park 20 aircraft in fiscal year 2024 and permanently retire nine additional MD-11 freighters. But the latest fleet statistics show the integrated logistics and parcel carrier’s mainline fleet will actually grow by 10 aircraft this year as Boeing planes ordered years ago are delivered.
FedEx Express retired 18 aircraft in the just-completed fiscal year, including 12 MD-11s, four Boeing 757-200s and two Airbus A300-600s. FedEx wrote off the $70 million book value of the planes plus 34 related engines in its fourth-quarter results.
FedEx reduced global flight hours by 12%, year over year, during the fourth quarter.
Overall fleet size decreased during the fiscal year by 10 units, with retirements offset by the addition of 14 factory-built Boeing 767-300 freighters and two Boeing 777s. FedEx currently has 700 aircraft, including 407 mainline aircraft and 293 feeder aircraft — 14 more than the prior year.
FedEx currently has 46 MD-11s, which will be phased out by fiscal 2028.
Source: Freight waves.