FedEx to retire 24 more planes, take $84 million charge

The world's No.2 package delivery company, which is undergoing a fleet upgrade to improve fuel efficiency, announced in December that it was buying new Boeing aircraft to replace some aging planes and delaying delivery of others to cut expenses.

FEDEX (FDX.NY)ill retire 18 Airbus A310-200 aircraft and 26 related engines, as well as six Boeing MD10-10 aircraft and 17 related engines.

The majority of these aircraft are currently parked and not in revenue service, FedEx said in a statement.

The company has already retired five aircraft this quarter and plans to shed 21 more in the next fiscal to modernize its fleet.

"Along with the decisions to retire these 50 aircraft, we are also developing detailed operating and cost structure plans to further improve our efficiency," FedEx Express Chief Executive David Bronczek said in a statement.

The company said FedEx Express is shortening the depreciable lives of some aircraft. The accelerated depreciation on these aircraft is expected to total $196 million over the next three fiscal years.

FedEx Express had a total fleet of 688 aircraft as of February 29.

Shares of Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx closed at $85.20 on Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bangalore; Editing by Sreejiraj Eluvangal and Joyjeet Das)