From the time the MD-11 first entered service in 1990 with Finnair, the type has bedeviled operators with excessive fuel burn and operating range penalties, and reliability issues. Compounding those drawbacks, the MD-11 became available at a time when capable ETOPS (extended-range twin-engine operations) types such as the Boeing 767 and Airbus A330 were taking over routes that once were the domain of the wide-body tri-jets-while the 777 was waiting in the wings.
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