> all the good ol' 3-engine birds [..] have been put to pasture .. except in cargo operations, where the MD-11F is all the rage. Cargo is exempt from ETOPS, w

> all the good ol' 3-engine birds [..] have been put to pasture .. except in cargo operations, where the MD-11F is all the rage. Cargo is exempt from ETOPS, which is why you see trijets still operating for FedEx, DHL, etc. edit: I see ubernostrum said almost the exact same thing below! I'll leave the comment, as he/she didn't mention the ETOPS cargo exemption.