In the early evening of Tuesday, Nov. 4, a massive fireball erupted in a busy industrial area on the immediate outskirts of the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, a major cargo and passenger hub in Kentucky.

Cargo planes at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, three days after a deadly crash killed 14.

The cause of the explosion? UPS 2976, a cargo plane that had just taken off from the airport en route to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu. (The Louisville airport is home to WorldPort, United Parcel Service’s primary global air cargo sorting facility.) At least two businesses were severely damaged and 14 people were killed: three crew members and 11 people on the ground, including a grandfather and his 3-year-old granddaughter. Firefighters spent six hours battling the wide swath of flames, and the smoke from the crash was so thick, officials declared a shelter-in-place order for the entire area.

While the community mourned those lost, officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that, as the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 cargo plane took off, the left engine caught fire and the left wing detached. UPS immediately grounded all MD-11s in its cargo fleet (about 9% of all its planes) and the Federal Aviation Administration officially ordered all MD-11s to be subject to full inspections and repairs. About 4% of FedEx’s fleet is made up of MD-11s, which have been manufactured by Boeing since 1997; the average age is more than 30 years old.

Now, an inspections process that was first expected to last only a few weeks will be a much longer undertaking. A memo from UPS Airlines President Bill Moore to employees in late November stated that maintenance and subsequent repairs will take months.

Moreover, all of this occurred during the peak shipping season.

UPS says it has 500 planes in its global fleet and will be able to handle the holiday rush with contingency plans in place. Meanwhile, companies in the promo industry finishing up the Q4 rush and gearing up for Q1 orders say they continue to monitor the situation, though they haven’t experienced major delays yet.

Jason McCracken, senior account executive at Las Vegas-based Counselor Top 40 distributor Eagle Promotions (asi/185320) and a 2025 ASI Media Salesperson of the Year finalist, says his company has experienced some knock-on effects from the MD-11 being out of commission.

“It’s been slightly longer transit times, carriers being a little cagey with capacity and factories padding their lead times ‘just in case,’” he says. “It’s enough that anyone moving high-volume programs or time-sensitive drops needs to stay sharp. And depending on how long inspections and repairs drag out, Q1 could have a bit of a hangover too, especially for overseas-sourced goods that rely heavily on air freight to hit tight windows.”

In response, Eagle Promotions has expedited orders when necessary, opted for alternative services when available and stayed in consistent communication with factories.

“We’re definitely keeping a close eye on it,” says McCracken.

Other promo companies say they haven’t experienced major shipping delays yet.

“Most of our product comes in by boat and is then transloaded in California,” says Brittany David, CRO at Counselor Top 40 supplier SnugZ USA (asi/88060) and a member of the Counselor Power 50 list. “We always expect delays, but more likely due to weather.”

Likewise, Mitch Silver, vice president of Printable (asi/299458), a Counselor Best Place to Work, is more concerned about delays due to an early onset of extreme winter conditions. Chicago, where Silver is based, experienced snow and wind chills of -10° to -20° F last weekend.

Kevin Walsh, president of Counselor Top 40 supplier Showdown Displays (asi/87188) and a member of the Counselor Power 50 list, also says he’s not expecting too much disruption, but the company is developing alternative plans as needed. “About 60% of our freight travels with FedEx,” says Walsh of the Counselor Best Place to Work in Brooklyn Center, MN. “We do have clients that request shipments on their own UPS account and those could be impacted. We’ll tell them of the possibility of disruption and potentially guide them to FedEx.”

Mike Fossano, president of Premier Communications Group (asi/298496), says his team has been anticipating disruption (and has indeed experienced some small delays in the past few weeks), and has been advising clients to place orders as early as possible. “This will last into Q1 as the major carriers learn more from inspections,” says Fossano, who’s also a presenter in the ASI Learning Network. “It’s safe to assume there could be lengthy delays in the repair process, and some airlines may choose to retire planes nearing age-out rather than fix them.”