United Postal Service CEO Carol Tome said Tuesday that the company was officially retiring its fleet of McDonnell Douglas MD-11 cargo planes after one of them was involved in a fatal crash in Louisville.

Tome told analysts on its fourth-quarter earnings call that the shipping giant has taken a “systematic programmatic approach to modernizing” its global air fleet, which included “the decision to accelerate our plans and retire all MD-11 aircraft from our fleet.” This was completed in the fourth quarter.

Tome also said the company will replace much of that capacity with what he described as a “more efficient Boeing 767 aircraft.” Over the next 15 months, the company plans to take delivery of about 18 new Boeing 767 aircraft, with 15 expected to be delivered this year.

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UPS believes these changes will equip the company with a “more efficient global network positioned for growth, flexibility and profitability.”

UPS plane crash in Kentucky. (Credit: X / @WT_Mason)

The MD-11 fleet had already been withdrawn from service in November, when the company decided to ground the aircraft following its involvement in a fatal crash on 4 November.

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The UPS cargo plane’s engine fell and burst into flames shortly after departure from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. The Honolulu, Hawaii-bound flight crashed around 5:15 p.m., hitting a nearby industrial area and killing 14 people, including the three crew members and 11 people on the ground.

Smoke rises from the crash site of a UPS cargo plane near the UPS Worldport at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville, Kentucky on November 4, 2025. (Photo by Leandro Lozada/AFP via Getty Images)

Black box data indicates that the plane only reached about 30 feet above ground level before the crash. Images released by the National Transportation Safety Board show a fire burning in the left engine.

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UPS had initially planned to return the fleet to service and began working to meet Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) guidelines before returning to service.

The Associated Press reported that the process, which was initially expected to take weeks, would take several months, according to a memo from UPS Airlines President Bill Moore.

A UPS Boeing 767 taxis at San Diego International Airport on August 15, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Kevin Carter)

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“About the MD-11 fleet, Continuous assessment of Boeing demonstrates that inspections and potential repairs will be more extensive than originally anticipated,” Moore wrote in the memo.

Michael Sinkewicz of Fox News contributed to this report.