FedEx cargo aircraft now carry a distinctive but little-known tribute marking on their undersides — the initials “FWS,” standing for Frederick Wallace Smith, the visionary founder of the FedEx Corporation.
Smith founded the company in 1971 and launched flight operations on April 17, 1973, with 14 Dassault Falcon 20 jets delivering 186 packages to 25 cities from the Memphis hub on the first night.
His revolutionary hub-and-spoke overnight delivery concept, famously outlined in a Yale University term paper that reportedly received a mediocre grade, transformed the global logistics industry.
FedEx became the first US company to reach $1 billion in revenue within its first 10 years without mergers or acquisitions, and Smith served as Chairman and CEO for over five decades before transitioning to Executive Chairman in June 2022 and subsequently to Chairman Emeritus.
Frederick Wallace Smith passed away on January 13, 2025, at the age of 80.
The FWS belly marking is not limited to a single aircraft — it is an apparent fleet-wide feature applied across multiple FedEx aircraft types, including the Boeing 777F, Boeing 767-300F, Boeing 757-200F, and even the grounded McDonnell Douglas MD-11F freighters.
Photographers around the world have documented the marking on numerous registrations, including N867FD “Jaxson” (the pictured Boeing 777-FS2 above seen in Honolulu), N850FD, N886FD, N625FE, N604FE, N138FE, and N919FD, among others.
The marking is positioned on the aircraft’s underside, meaning it is only visible when an aircraft passes directly overhead.
FedEx has never officially publicized the FWS belly marking in its official corporate communications or press materials. It is understood within the aviation community and among FedEx employees as a quiet, permanent tribute to the company’s founder rather than a promotional branding exercise.
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