The world’s largest cargo carriers, UPS and FedEx, grounded their MD-11 freighter fleets at the recommendation of Boeing, the aircraft’s manufacturer.
US logistics companies UPS and FedEx have grounded their combined fleet of more than 50 McDonnell Douglas MD-11 cargo planes.
The decision, announced on Friday evening, followed a crash involving one of the planes at Louisville International Airport in Kentucky earlier that week, which killed at least 14 people.
I dislike Boeing as much as the next guy, but they only took over manufacturing in 1997 so this plane would have been built by McDonnell Douglas. I’m also pretty sure it’s not Boeing’s responsibility to maintain aircraft that are no longer in production.
McDonnell Douglas is actually the reason why Boeing sucks now. After Boeing took over McDonnell Douglas, the MD execs (who were skilled at office politics, but not building airplanes) wound up rising through the ranks and now Boeing is essentially run by the MD execs now.
Since Boeing became more like McDonnell Douglas after the takeover, I think it’s fair to call it a Boeing plane. It’s the McDonnell Douglas execs running Boeing now, so it’s fair to hold them responsible.
It’s not Boeing’s responsibility to maintain them at all once they sell them. They provide maintenance plans and sell services, but it’s not really any different from a car.