Itīs true.
One 742 is being taken out of service this month, the next a few months later.
One will be put into storage - where, I donīt know.
All because of falling demand/yields.
But then theyīre also supposed to get 4 combis from DLH-pax for future growth.
Since the "improved" 744-600 (?)F never materialized, and they only wanted "affordable" MD11s with CF6 engines (and thus pneumatic reversers etc.), cargo doors as large as on the MD11F (are the "conversion" doors smaller?), these rather "inexpensive-to-finance" 742 combis seem very likely to come.
Besides that, the MD11 is a pain to load/unload, especially with heavy pallets.
Getting high-yield/heavy outsized cargo into them is next to impossible anyway.
The smaller time-critical load is flown on pax planes mostly anyway (A340-600 has twice the belly cap of a 744pax - and LH is getting quite a few of those).
The SHJ-hub hasnīt changed, and from the planning I saw last week will stay.
The pilot situation hasnīt changed - the 742 reduction making things even worse in the short run. The number of duty days is the problem not the hours. Off days en route and dead-heading will become worse, crew effectiveness in terms of block-hours going down the drain.
LH-pax, Cargo and Condor are still desperate for pilots...
If you donīt fit the requirements for employment, donīt get your hopes up, though, they wonīt change. - sorry