UPS retires MD-11 fleet, will slash 30,000 more jobs

United Parcel Service (UPS) announced that it earned consolidated revenues of $24.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, while reporting an operating profit of $2.6 billion, diluted earnings per share of $2.10 for the quarter, and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share. For the last three months of 2025, UPS recorded a non-GAAP adjusted operating profit of $2.9 billion and non-GAAP adjusted diluted earnings per share of $2.38. The results signal a shift as UPS accelerates its Amazon glide down, cutting Amazon volume by 1 million pieces per day in 2025 with an additional million-piece reduction slated for 2026. To support this leaner, higher-yield model, the carrier has retired its MD-11 fleet and plans to eliminate up to 30,000 operational positions.

The results include total charges of $238 million, largely due to the write-off of the company’s MD-11 aircraft fleet and transformation-related costs. During the quarter, UPS completed its retirement of the MD-11 fleet as part of its fleet modernisation plans. Earlier, on November 4, 2025, UPS Flight 2976 crashed shortly after takeoff from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, killing all three crew members and 12 people. In the days following the disaster, the FAA issued an emergency airworthiness directive that effectively grounded the entire MD-11 fleet for mandatory pylon inspections.

On the job cuts, Chief Executive Officer Carol Tomé explained, during the earlings call, that as part of the "Network Reconfiguration and Efficiency Reimagined" initiatives, the company eliminated 48,000 operational positions in 2025, including 15,000 seasonal roles, while Chief Financial Officer Brian Dykes detailed the next phase of the company’s labor reduction strategy, stating, “In terms of semi-variable costs, we expect to reduce operational positions by up to 30,000” as part of a broader effort to align driver staffing with the lower volumes resulting from the Amazon exit.

On the Amazon glide down, Tomé stated that UPS has entered the "final six months" of its 18-month plan to "reduce the Amazon volume in our network by 50%," confirming the carrier hit its 2025 target of 1 million pieces per day and intends to "glide down another million pieces per day" in 2026 to create a leaner, higher-yield network.

In segment performance, the U.S. domestic business saw revenue fall by 3.2 per cent amid lower volumes, though revenue per piece rose. The international segment delivered a 2.5 per cent rise in revenue, driven by higher revenue per piece.

For the full year 2025, UPS reported revenues of $88.7 billion, an operating profit of $7.9 billion and a diluted earnings per share of $6.56. The company also returned $6.4 billion to its shareowners through dividends and share repurchases.

Looking ahead to 2026, UPS expects consolidated revenue of about $89.7 billion and a non-GAAP adjusted operating margin of around 9.6 per cent. It plans capital expenditures of approximately $3.0 billion and dividend payments of about $5.4 billion, subject to board approval, with an expected effective tax rate of about 23 per cent.