Airline · FX
Fedex
United States
contri from Yonezawa-Shi Yamagata, Japan — CC BY-SA 2.0
History
The Story of Fedex
Founded in June 1971 by Frederick W. Smith in Little Rock, Arkansas, and commencing operations in April 1973 from Memphis, Tennessee, Federal Express pioneered the modern overnight air-and-ground package delivery network. Initially deploying a fleet of 14 Dassault Falcon 20 jets linking 25 U.S. cities on its first night, the carrier scaled rapidly by acquiring larger narrowbody and widebody equipment following the U.S. air cargo deregulation of 1977. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the airline expanded aggressively into international markets across Europe and Asia, establishing major global sorting hubs.
In 1994, the airline officially adopted the FedEx name and new logo for everyday branding. The parent holding company itself was renamed FedEx Corporation only in 2000, when Federal Express became the FedEx Express operating subsidiary under that later restructuring. Over subsequent decades, through strategic route expansion and the integration of massive widebody aircraft types such as the McDonnell Douglas MD-11, Airbus A300, Boeing 767, and Boeing 777 freighter, FedEx Express developed into the world's largest cargo airline by fleet size and freight ton-kilometers flown.
Branding
Livery & Visual Identity
The original visual identity introduced in 1973 featured a white fuselage complemented by purple and orange cheatlines running below the cabin windows, paired with a dark purple tail bearing the early 'Federal Express' wordmark. In 1994, alongside the rebranding to FedEx, the airline transitioned to a clean, highly recognizable corporate paint scheme. This modern livery features a stark white upper and lower fuselage, stripped of traditional cheatlines, with the iconic 'FedEx' logotype painted on the forward fuselage.
The signature visual element of the contemporary fleet is its deep purple vertical stabilizer, which prominently displays the brand logo. The wordmark itself utilizes the famous 'E' and 'x' optical illusion arrow embedded in the negative space. In 2026, FedEx introduced a heritage retro livery applied to a Boeing 777F, reviving the classic 1973 purple-and-orange cheatline motif to honor the company's foundational era.
Safety Record
Notable Safety History
Official investigations by bodies such as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB) have addressed several operational accidents involving FedEx Express aircraft, leading to procedural and regulatory safety enhancements:
- Flight 14 (July 31, 1997): A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (N611FE) crashed while landing on runway 22R at Newark International Airport after an unstabilized approach and a hard touchdown that resulted in structural failure and a post-crash fire. The NTSB investigation focused on pilot overcontrol, bounced landing recovery techniques, and go-around decision-making policies, prompting safety recommendations regarding landing-gear inspection protocols and flight-crew training tools.
- Flight 1478 (July 26, 2002): A Boeing 727-232F (N497FE) struck trees and crashed short of the runway during a night visual approach to Tallahassee Regional Airport. The NTSB determined the probable cause was the flight crew's failure to establish and maintain a proper glidepath, compounded by crew fatigue and procedural non-compliance, resulting in recommendations regarding fatigue management and flight-crew monitoring.
- Flight 80 (March 23, 2009): A McDonnell Douglas MD-11F (N526FE) experienced severe porpoising during landing on Runway 34L at Narita International Airport, resulting in structural fracture of the left wing, a rollover, and a fatal post-crash fire. The JTSB concluded that the dynamic bouncing induced loads surpassing the ultimate design limits of the aircraft wing structure during touchdown.
- Flight 910 (October 28, 2016): A McDonnell Douglas MD-10-10F (N370FE) experienced a left main landing gear collapse during landing at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport, leading to a localized fuel-fed fire. The investigation revealed metal fatigue originating from improper historical maintenance plating practices, triggering heightened inspection directives for legacy gear cylinders.
Covers officially investigated accidents only, per aviation safety authorities (NTSB, ICAO or equivalent).