MD-11 Grounding Prompts Western Global Furloughs

Western Global Airlines has initiated indefinite furloughs across its MD-11 operation as carriers confront a prolonged grounding of the tri-jet freighter fleet. The airline said inspections required under an FAA airworthiness directive, issued after the fatal crash of a UPS MD-11 earlier this month, are expected to take far longer than initially anticipated. UPS and FedEx each had more than two dozen MD-11s in service at the time of the accident, but the grounding represents a larger share of Western Global’s smaller fleet, which includes six active MD-11s and three Boeing 747-400 freighters.

In an internal letter shared on social media, Western Global Vice President of Human Resources Tom Romnios said Boeing initially expected to finalize a noninvasive inspection protocol by mid-November