is an ,
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport , and
Memphis International Airport . Northwest also operates flights from a hub in
Asia at
Narita International Airport near
Tokyo and also operates transatlantic and Asian flights in cooperation with partner
KLM from
Schiphol Airport in
Amsterdam .
Northwest is currently the world's fourth largest airline in terms of RPK (revenue-passenger-kilometers). In addition to operating one of the largest domestic route networks in the U.S., Northwest carries more passengers across the
Pacific (5.1 million in 2004) than any other U.S. carrier, and carries more air cargo than any other passenger airline. The airline, along with its parent company and subsidiaries, is currently operating under
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Northwest Airlines' regional flights are operated under the name
Northwest Airlink by
Mesaba Airlines and
Pinnacle Airlines . Its
Frequent Flyer Program is called WorldPerks.
Northwest used initially to haul U.S. mail.]]
Northwest Airlines was founded in and
Chicago, Illinois , using open cockpit biplanes such as the
Curtiss Oriole.
Northwest began flying passengers in
1927 . In
1928 , the airline started its first international route with service to
Winnipeg, Canada . The airline's operations were expanded to smaller cities in the region by the end of the decade. In
1931 Northwest sponsored
Charles And Anne Lindbergh on a pioneering flight to Japan, scouting what would become known as the
Northwest Airlines Great Circle Route , and proving that flying through Alaska could save as much as 2,000 miles on a New York-Tokyo route. In
1933 , Northwest was designated to fly the Northern Transcontinental Route from
New York City to
Seattle, Washington ; it adopted the name the following year. Northwest stock began to be publicly traded in
1941 .
logo]]
During
World War II , Northwest joined the war effort by flying military equipment and personnel from the continental United States to
Alaska . During this time, Northwest began painting their aircraft tails red, as a visual aid in the often harsh weather conditions. This experience with the severe northern climate led the government to designate Northwest as the United States' main North Pacific carrier following the war.
In the spring of 1947 Northwest began staffing its Tokyo base with company personnel, flying them across the "Northern Route" in twin-engine DC-3 aircraft. On
15 July 1947 , Northwest became the first airline to fly a commercial passenger flight from the U.S. to Japan, using ''The Manila'', a
Douglas DC-4 aircraft, by way of
Anchorage . From Tokyo, the flight continued to
Seoul ,
Shanghai , and
Manila .
Taipei replaced
Shanghai after the
End Of Chinese Civil War of
1949 . With its new routes, the airline rebranded itself as , although the legal name of the company remained Northwest Airlines.
On 1 August 1949, Northwest took delivery of its first double-deck
Boeing 377 Stratocruisers , which allowed the airline to establish higher service standards and reduce flight time. They were used to fly the Tokyo route nonstop from Seattle, and—with one stop in Anchorage—from
Chicago . In
1951 , Northwest helped establish
Japan Airlines by leasing its aircraft and crew to the new company. In
1952 , under the U.S.-Japan bilateral aviation treaty, Northwest and
Pan American were the two U.S. flag carriers awarded rights to fly not only from the U.S. to Japan, but to pick up and carry passengers beyond Japan. Northwest remains the largest non-Japanese carrier at Tokyo's Narita Airport, with flights to 15 cities in Asia including
Seoul ,
Manila ,
Hong Kong ,
Beijing ,
Shanghai ,
Guangzhou ,
Bangkok and
Singapore .
Northwest meteorologists pioneered the first
Clear-air Turbulence forecasting system in
1957 , important since the airline flew many northern routes over turbulence-prone mountain areas. Northwest remains a leader in turbulence prediction, providing TPAWS (turbulence prediction and warning services) to other airlines.
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On in
1964 .
Northwest took delivery of its first
Boeing 747-151 aircraft in
1970 . The airline began retiring the older Boeing 707s, and using the newer 707s on high-density domestic routes, where the 727 lacked sufficient capacity.
After
Airline Deregulation , Northwest began nonstop flights to other Asian cities, returned to China in
1984 after a 34 year hiatus, and gradually strengthened its presence in the southern United States. It also began flying to
Britain ,
Ireland ,
Germany , and
Scandinavia . On
1 October 1986 , Northwest purchased its competitor, Minneapolis-St. Paul-based
Republic Airlines and adopted its three-hub network centered around Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Memphis. Northwest dropped the word ''Orient'' from its brand name after the merger. The legal name has been ''Northwest Airlines'' since 1984. Northwest also received a new slogan; "Look To Us", which was joked at by Northwest pilots as "look to us; then take the bus" due to NWA's poor service reputation at the time, which also resulted in the still-popular joke "Northworst Airlines".
In 1989, Northwest introduced a new identity designed by
Landor Associates superseding the
1970 logo and livery. A new livery, nicknamed the "bowling shoe" by employees, was adopted at the same time. New burgundy and beige uniforms designed by
Claude Montana , but manufactured by
Walt Disney Imagineering , were also introduced. Northwest's CEO Al Checchi was a board member at Disney, so WDI's manufacturing was a natural fit, but the uniforms wore out quickly. The joke among flight attendants was "Why can Disney make a good Mickey Mouse costume, but they can't make a good uniform for us?".
Three years later, when Northwest launched the "Some People Just Know How to Fly" ad campaign, new blue uniforms for flight attendants and customer service agents designed by French designer
Thierry Mugler were introduced. The uniforms were criticized by flight attendants as being expensive (as they were made in France in the same plant that made Mugler's ready-to-wear collection) and flimsy, and were phased out in 1996 in favor of the current uniform.
1989 also saw major changes in ownership at the airline. Northwest was purchased in a
1989 Leveraged Buyout by an investment group headed by Al Checchi and Gary Wilson, KLM, and many others. To pay off the debt incurred in their takeover, the new management sold many of the airline's aircraft to leasing companies, and sold property around the world, including land in central Tokyo. The expense of the buyout was so great that in
1993 , following several years of losses due to industry overcapacity and a traffic downturn following the
Gulf War , Northwest threatened bankruptcy unless its employee groups agreed to three years of wage cuts. After signing the concessionary agreements, Northwest made its first profit since 1989.
Also in 1993, Northwest began its strategic alliance with KLM, which was the largest airline partnership ever conceived at the time. This partnership eventually became the
Wings Alliance . However, the alliance never grew beyond the two airlines, and is now obsolete as both are part of
SkyTeam . Northwest gradually pulled out of its minor European destinations and once more focused its attention on the domestic and Asian markets. On
1 May 1996 Northwest began the first nonstop service from the U.S. to China, on the Detroit-Beijing route. Nonstop Detroit-Shanghai service followed in April
2000 . Later, these nonstop services were suspended in 2002.
Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, Northwest enjoyed profits and focused on improving technology to increase convenience while reducing costs. The airline has offered airport self-service check-in kiosks since 1997, and has more than any other airline. Northwest was also the first large U.S. airline to offer passengers Internet check-in, with service from December 2000. During the early 2000s, Northwest Airlines acquired a reputation of refusing to adopt industry-wide fare increases that had been accepted by other United States airlines. This changed in March
2005 , when Northwest adopted fare hikes in response to rising oil prices.
A recurring issue in the airline's recent history has been often uneasy relationships with labor groups. In
1998 , Northwest walked away from the bargaining table, locked out its pilots (represented by
ALPA ) and shut down the airline for more than two weeks. The airline sustained heavy losses as a result, and ended 1998 in the red, after being profitable since 1993.
Following the
September 11 Terrorist Attacks and the subsequent downturn in the airline industry, Northwest was forced to make major changes to its business structure. Immediately after the attacks, the retirement of costly and aging
Boeing 727 aircraft was accelerated as new
Airbus A320 s went into service. In addition, the airline pursued options to reduce costs across the board, including removing pillows, peanuts, pretzels, in-flight entertainment on domestic flights, and newspapers and magazines. Also, over 50
McDonnell Douglas DC-9 ,
Boeing 757 ,
Boeing 747 , and
Airbus A320 Family aircraft have been withdrawn from use in an attempt to lower overall capacity and save money.
Following many years of a pioneering and close partnership with
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines , Northwest, along with partners KLM and
Continental Airlines , joined the
SkyTeam Alliance, a partnership of nine airlines from around the world, on
15 September 2004 . This was partially a result of
Air France acquiring KLM, forming the
Air France-KLM group. The airline continued to hemorrhage money, however. In the spring of 2005, a media spectacle occurred when the news leaked that top executives in the company had been selling much of their stock. Subsequently, shareholders filed lawsuits against four top officials for
Insider Trading , including Chairman Gary Wilson, CEO Doug Steenland, former director Al Checchi and former CFO Bernie Han.
Northwest's labor problems also continued into the 21st century. On
August 20 2005 , after months of negotiations, an impasse declared by the
NMB and a
30-day Cooling Off Period , the over 4,750 Northwest aircraft
Mechanic s, janitors, and aircraft
Cleaners represented by
AMFA went on
Strike against the company. After numerous negotiation sessions, no agreement was reached, and the company began hiring permanent replacement workers. In mid-October, after permanently hiring about 500 non-union workers, Northwest made a final offer to the union. The offer would have saved about 500 union jobs and offered four weeks of severance pay to terminated employees. This offer was significantly worse than the original declined by the union, which would have saved over 2,000 jobs and offered 16 weeks of severance pay. On
21 October 2005 , AMFA announced that it would not allow its members to vote on the offer, citing that parts of the contract would violate the union's commitment to its members. Finally, in late December 2005, Northwest made what it termed its "final offer" to the union. The agreement would have terminated all striking workers and given them rights to unemployment compensation. The union voted down the offer.
Despite far-reaching money saving initiatives, Northwest was forced to file for
Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection for the first time in its 79-year history. The filing took place in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on
14 September 2005 . With Northwest's filing, four of the six largest U.S. carriers were operating under bankruptcy protection. Northwest joined
Delta Air Lines (which filed just minutes before),
United Airlines , and
US Airways in bankruptcy. US Airways and United Airlines have since emerged from bankruptcy protection. Northwest common stock shares dropped more than 50% for the second time in three days following the news, largely because stock is generally cancelled as part of the bankruptcy process. In the following weeks, Northwest Airlink carriers
Mesaba Airlines and
Pinnacle Airlines both announced that Northwest had missed payments to them for their Airlink flying. Northwest also announced plans to shrink its Airlink fleet by over 45 aircraft. Mesaba Aviation filed for
Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on
October 13 2005 .
Hours before the start of a possibly devestating strike, Northwest was able to secure a new contract agreement with its various unions. Northwest has not yet announced an exact date to pull out of bankruptcy.
As of
2006 , NWA was the only
U.S. Airline to operate a Completely separate
Air Cargo operation. Northwest flies a number of routes using its dedicated cargo fleet, carrying no commercial passengers. (Many other
U.S. Airlines carry
Cargo on existing passenger routes.)
NWA Cargo maintains a large
Hub at
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in
Anchorage, Alaska .
N211NW in the 1989-2003 livery]]
Northwest currently has one of the oldest fleets among all major air carriers, with a fleet average airframe age of 18.3 years. This is due, in part, to a large fleet of operator. As the aircraft aged, the 727 fleet was slowly replaced throughout the 1990s with Airbus
A319 and
A320 aircraft. The final 727 aircraft were retired in
2003 after the industry downturn caused by the
September 11 Terrorist Attacks . Since the 1960s, Northwest has operated one of the world's largest Boeing
747 fleets, flying a mostly 747 fleet to and within Asia from the 1970s through the early 2000s. Since then, older 747-100 and 747-200 series aircraft have been retired and replaced with the Airbus
A330 and
747-400 . In addition to the DC-9, Northwest also currently operates older
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and 747-200 aircraft.
A330-323 N802NW in the 2003 livery]]
Northwest is in the midst of a major long-haul fleet renewal program. As part of this program, Northwest introduced a simplified new paint scheme and logo in April 2003. The airline is currently replacing its
DC-10 and Boeing 747-200 aircraft with the Airbus A330 and the new Boeing
787 . The first A330-300, used on European flights, arrived on
August 6 ,
2003 .
Northwest has been involved in the launch of numerous aircraft. In
1989 , the airline was the primary launch customer for the 747-400. Northwest was also the United States launch customer for the Airbus A320 with N301US, an A320-211 manufactured on
June6 ,
1989 . In
2005 , Northwest announced plans to be the North American (and thus U.S.) launch customer for the 787, which will be delivered in
2008 .
All of Northwest's aircraft have a two-class configuration: coach and first class on domestic routes; coach and World Business Class on international routes. Northwest does not offer inflight entertainment or computer power on any domestic flight in either class. Northwest's A330s and 747-451s have the first lie-flat business class seats of any U.S. airline. Although both All Nippon Airways' and JAL's business class seats have greater pitch and width than Northwest's 60" pitch and 20" width offered with the World Business Class seat. In addition, United Airlines, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Air New Zealand, British Airways, Lufthansa, and Virgin Atlantic all offer increased seat pitch and/or width with their First Class product compared to the World Business Class product. Airbus A330 aircraft have a personal, individually controlled
Video Monitor for every seat, and AC power outlets for many seats. For information on the fleet of Northwest's Airlink partners, see
Mesaba Airlines or
Pinnacle Airlines .
Northwest also operates thirteen
Boeing 747-251SF freighters.
The average Northwest fleet age is 10.8 years old in march 2006.
- Note in table with the asterisk (---): World Business Class on international flights; First Class is on domestic flights only.
. The aircraft is scheduled to enter into service in
2008 .]]
WorldPerks is Northwest Airlines'
Frequent Flyer Program , offering regular travelers the ability to obtain free tickets, First Class upgrades on flights, discounted membership for its airport lounges (WorldClubs), or other types of rewards. Customers accumulate miles from actual flight segments they fly or through Northwest's partners, such as car rental companies,
Hotel s,
Credit Card s, and other vendors.
In addition to its
Northwest Airlink and
SkyTeam Alliance partnerships, Northwest offers
Code Sharing and frequent flyer partnerships with other airlines, including the following:
WorldClubs is Northwest's member lounge. Members have reciprocal access to a number of other clubs, including fellow
SkyTeam carriers such as
Continental Airlines and
Delta Air Lines , as well as
Kenya Airways and
Malaysia Airlines . Unlike some other airline lounges, WorldClubs offer complimentary alcoholic beverages in domestic locations. Northwest recently announced that it will roll out free
Wi-Fi internet access world-wide. Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines are the only two airlines in the United States that offer lifetime memberships in their airport lounge programs, something that currently costs non-elite members $4,690. (
List of locations )
- The disappearance of flying from New York City to Minneapolis-St. Paul on 23 June 1950 , over Lake Michigan , has never been solved.
- On . All aboard the MD-82 were killed except for one young girl.
- On 13 June 2001 Northwest Airlines Flight 28 from Manila to Tokyo made an emergency landing in Tokyo when one set of its landing gear descended but did not lock into place. None of the 410 people aboard was injured. The emergency landing caused Tokyo's Narita Airport to close its only runway for nearly an hour and a half.
It was the second time in as many days that a Northwest plane had to make an emergency landing at this airport. The previous day, Northwest pilots had to return to the airport after indicator lights suggested their plane had an engine problem.
- On 19 June 2005 a Northwest DC-10-30 en route from Mumbai (Bombay) to Amsterdam diverted to Mehrabad Airport in Tehran Iran . A warning light (later proven to be a false alarm) indicated there was a possible fire in the cargo hold. Several hours were spent negotiating the purchase of fuel, due to the lack of precedent; this was the first US airliner to land in Iran since the 1979 revolution.
