UPS Airlines is one of the world’s largest cargo carriers, with a fleet of almost 300 aircraft, and hubs all over the world. It serves over 800 destinations and carries much of the world’s freight.
UPS Airlines History
The origins of United Parcel Service (UPS) date back to 1929, however the company did not start its own airline until after the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978; until then it had been sending its freight as belly cargo on other airlines. From 1980 UPS started acquiring second-hand Boeing 727s, 747s and Douglas DC-8s and established its base at Louisville, Kentucky. In 1988, UPS Airlines was formed to service the many domestic and international destinations on its freight network. It had started taking delivery of a large fleet of new Boeing 757-200 aircraft from 1987, and grew with 767-300 and McDonnell Douglas MD-11 freighters in the 1990s. For a period it even operated its Boeing 727-100s in a passenger configuration to earn money from charters at weekends, when freight was not being flown.
UPS Airlines Today
Today UPS Airlines operates from its major hub at Louisville, Kentucky.
This base is known as the UPS Worldport and occupies a large portion of the airport site. Many of the airline’s fleet pass through in waves, usually at night.
Aside from Louisville, UPS operates hubs in:
- Anchorage Ted Stevens, USA
- Chicago Rockford, USA
- Cologne/Bonn, Germany
- Columbia, USA
- Dallas/Fort Worth, USA
- East Midlands, UK
- Hamilton, Canada
- Hong Kong
- Kuala Lumpur International, Malaysia
- Miami International, USA
- Ontario, USA
- Philadelphia, USA
- Shanghai Pudong, China
- Shenzhen, China
Spotting UPS Airlines
UPS’ fleet operates in a standard livery across all types, with no special schemes at the time of writing.
The airline’s livery features a white forward fuselage with ‘Worldwide Service’ titles. Towards the rear a gold line delineates the white from the black of the rear fuselage and tail. The tail shows the gold UPS logo.
UPS Airlines Fleet Overview
Fans of older jets will be pleased to note the large fleet of Airbus A300-600RF freighters still being used, as well as a sizeable number of McDonnell Douglas MD-11s.
Aside from these, UPS has a modern fleet of types including the Boeing 747-8 and 767-300.
Current Fleet:
52x Airbus A300-600RF
13x Boeing 747-400F/BCF
28x Boeing 747-800F
75x Boeing 757-200F
84x Boeing 767-300F/300ERF (+24 on order)
40x McDonnell Douglas MD-11F
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