Northwest Airlines

Northwest Airlines
IATA code :	NW
ICAO code :	NWA
Call sign :	NORTHWEST
Founding:	1926
Operation stopped:	2010
Merged with:	Delta Air Lines
Seat:	Eagan , Minnesota , United States
Turnstile :	Memphis Minneapolis / St Paul Detroit
Home airport :	Minneapolis / St Paul
Company form:	Corporation
Passenger volume:	54.89 million (2007)
Alliance :	SkyTeam
Fleet size:	302 (+ 25 orders)
Aims:	National and international
Northwest Airlines merged with Delta Air Lines in 2010 . The information in italics relates to the last status before the takeover.

Northwest Airlines (also Northwest Orient Airlines in the brand identity until 1986 and nwa from 2003 ) was an American airline based in Eagan and a member of the SkyTeam aviation alliance . It was taken over by Delta Air Lines in October 2008 and was completely absorbed on January 31, 2010.

history

Foundation and first years

The airline was founded on September 1, 1926 under the name Northwest Airways by Lewis Brittin, who was involved in the construction of the first airfield in Minneapolis in the spring of 1926 . Lewis Brittin was able to win several entrepreneurs from the automotive industry as investors, which enabled him financially to acquire the route rights granted to Charles Dickenson for mail air traffic on CAM Route 9 from Chicago to Minneapolis. Northwest Airways took over flight operations on this route on October 1, 1926 and initially used a Curtiss Oriole and a Thomas-Morse S4 to transport mail. The first passenger flight followed on June 1, 1928 with a Stinson SB-1 ; The first international flight to Winnipeg followed in 1931 . As a result of the airmail scandal , the company was renamed Northwest Airlines on April 16, 1934 .

On April 22, 1939, the first of a total of 36 Douglas DC-3s was delivered. In late 1945, Northwest Airlines took over its first Douglas C-54 (DC-4) from the US armed forces . With these aircraft she opened on July 15, 1947 a line connection between Minneapolis-Saint Paul and Tokyo ( Japan ), which was completed with several stopovers. At the same time, the company introduced the brand name Northwest Orient Airlines for advertising purposes , although the aircraft did not receive this logo until 1969. After the end of the war, ten Boeing 377 Stratocruisers , among other things, were ordered, which were delivered from July to December 1949.

In the jet age

Lockheed L-188 Electra of Northwest Airlines

Northwest Airlines Boeing 707

Northwest Airlines Boeing 727-200

McDonnell Douglas DC-10 of the NWA

On May 18, 1960, the first jet aircraft , a Douglas DC-8-32 , was delivered. Northwest Airlines was also the first to cross the Pacific with this type .

At the end of 1970 the first Boeing 747-100 was delivered and used on the route from New York to Minneapolis. In 1980 the airline - at that time still under the Northwest Orient Airlines brand - started regular services to Germany (Hamburg).

On January 23, 1986 Northwest bought the American airline Republic Airlines for a price of 884 million US dollars . The hubs in Minneapolis , Detroit and Memphis , previously operated by Republic Airlines , became the backbone of Northwest's domestic network. On October 1, 1986, the two airlines merged.

In October 1989 the company received the new Boeing 747-400 as its first customer.

Development since 2000

With the delivery of the first Airbus A330-300 in June 2003, a new corporate design was also introduced.

On May 5, 2005, the company ordered 18 machines (plus 50 options) of the type 787 -8 “Dreamliner” from Boeing for delivery from 2009. On September 14 of the same year, Northwest filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy . Under US law, a company can continue to operate, but is protected from claims by creditors.

For 2006, NW reported an operating profit of $ 300 million for the first time since 2000. However, the airline reported a pure loss of 2.8 billion, due to the restructuring measures in connection with the bankruptcy.

On February 28, 2007, the bankruptcy court agreed that Northwest Airlines may buy up regional partner Mesaba Aviation .
On June 1, 2007, Northwest was able to leave Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after a good 20 months . For the first time since December 2002, none of the so-called US “legacy” companies were under bankruptcy protection. The “legacy carriers” are the large US companies with an international route network, in addition to Northwest Airlines, namely American Airlines , Continental Airlines , Delta Air Lines , United Airlines and US Airways .

Northwest Airlink

The Northwest Airlink brand was founded in 1984 to operate feeder flights . Mesaba Airlines was the first airline to be signed; For Northwest she operated the Fokker F27 Friendship , Fairchild Swearingen Metro and later also de Havilland Canada DHC-8-100 and Saab 340 .

Several other smaller companies such as Business Express Airlines , Compass Airlines , Express Airlines I (from 1987; new name from 2002: Pinnacle Airlines ) and Trans States Airlines operated these flights with the aircraft types BAe 146 (Avro RJ85) , BAe Jetstream 31 , Bombardier CRJ , Convair 580 , Embraer 175 and Saab 340 on behalf of Northwest Airlines.

Due to the upcoming merger, Northwest Airlink's flights were switched to the Delta Connection brand name from 2009 .

Merger with Delta Air Lines

On April 14, 2008 it was announced that Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines were planning a merger that would create the largest airline in the world. The new company should be called Delta Air Lines and be managed by the previous Northwest Airlines boss Richard Anderson. After approval by the shareholders and the US antitrust authorities , the merger was resolved on October 29, 2008. Until the complete integration into Delta (in which the "Northwest" brand also disappeared) Northwest acted as their wholly-owned subsidiary.

Before the acquisition, Northwest was the oldest remaining airline in the United States and the fifth largest airline in the United States after American , Delta, Southwest and United Airlines .

Since 31 December 2009, Northwest Airlines no longer has its own Air Operator Certificate (AOC - Air Operator Certificate). Since January 1, 2010, all activities have only been carried out under a joint license, which is Delta Air Lines. Since the first quarter of 2010, all reservations and tickets across the company have only been processed via the Delta system. The Northwest Airlines website has since been closed. With this, as well as with the repainting of the last remaining aircraft, the Northwest Airlines brand disappeared completely, and the largest airline takeover in the USA to date was completed.

Destinations

Worldwide transport connections were offered through own and code sharing. The focus in the USA was on the Midwest and the Northwest, in international traffic the transpacific route USA-Asia and the transatlantic connection to Europe. In Germany, Frankfurt was served by flights from Detroit once or twice a day . In addition there was a connection from Detroit to Düsseldorf from 2007 to 2008 and from 1980 to 1985 from Minneapolis via London to Hamburg and from 1981 to 1985 from New York via Copenhagen to Hamburg .

The US aviation hubs (. English hubs ) were located in Minneapolis , Detroit and Memphis , international in Tokyo - Narita and Amsterdam (with KLM ). Northwest was also a member of the SkyTeam airline alliance , which includes Delta Air Lines , Air France and Alitalia .

fleet

A Douglas DC-9-30 of Northwest Airlines

A Northwest Airlines Boeing 757-200

Before it was integrated into the Delta Air Lines fleet, the NWA fleet consisted of 305 aircraft as of December 2009, of which more than 180 were already painted by Delta.

Aircraft type	active	ordered	Remarks
Airbus A319-100	057	005
Airbus A320-200	068	002
Airbus A330-200	011		First delivery on July 21, 2004
Airbus A330-300	021st		First delivery on July 8, 2003
Boeing 747-200FSCD	005		Cargo machines; first delivery on July 3, 1975
Boeing 747-400	016		First delivery on January 26, 1989; should be converted to cargo machines
Boeing 757-200	041		First delivery on February 28, 1985
Boeing 757-300	016		First delivery on July 20, 2002
Boeing 787-8		018th
Douglas DC-9-30	027		24 of these were scheduled for retirement.
Douglas DC-9-40	007th
Douglas DC-9-50	033
total	305	025th

Incidents

A Martin 202 from Northwest Airlines

A Douglas DC-7C of Northwest Airlines

• On August 29, 1948, the Martin 202 with the aircraft registration number NC93044 broke almost seven km northwest of Winona (Minnesota) while passing through a thunderstorm. All 37 people on board were killed.

• On June 24, 1950 ( GMT ) a Douglas DC-4 of Northwest Orient Airlines (registration number N95425 ) crashed on the flight from New York to Seattle while crossing a thunderstorm line about 30 km north of Benton Harbor in Lake Michigan , USA. All 55 passengers and 3 crew members were killed. It was the worst airliner accident in the US to date (see Northwest-Orient-Airlines flight 2501 ) .

• On November 7, 1950, a Martin 2-0-2 of Northwest Orient Airlines (N93040) was flown into a ridge five kilometers east of the destination airport on the 80 kilometer flight from Helena (Montana) to Butte (Montana) . All 21 inmates were killed. The prescribed approach procedure had not been followed despite dubious weather conditions with clouds and showers.

• On January 16, 1951, a Martin 2-0-2 of Northwest Orient Airlines (N93054) had an accident near Reardan, Washington , on the flight from Spokane to Wenatchee . After an emergency call, the machine fell steeply to the ground. All seven passengers and three crew members died.

• On April 2, 1956, a Northwest Airlines Boeing 377 (N74608 ) experienced severe vibrations after the landing flaps were retracted shortly after take-off from Seattle-Tacoma Airport ( USA ). The altitude could no longer be maintained, and a ditching was carried out in the Puget Sound bay , almost 9 kilometers southwest of the departure airport. About 15 minutes later the plane sank. Of the 38 occupants, 5 were killed, 1 crew member and 4 passengers.

• On March 17, 1960, a Northwest Airlines Lockheed L-188 Electra broke in midair on a scheduled flight from Minneapolis to Miami . The accident was caused by vibrations in the propellers . All 63 occupants were killed (see also Northwest Airlines Flight 710 ) .

• On February 12, 1963, a Boeing 720-051B of Northwest Airlines (N724US) lost speed after taking off from Miami Airport and a steep climb and went into a dive, during which it broke apart at about 3000 meters and into a national park area Everglades Marshes plunged. All 43 inmates were killed. A loss of control due to extreme turbulence near thunderstorms was found to be the cause (see also Northwest Airlines flight 705 ) .

• On June 3, 1963, a Douglas DC-7CF (N290) crashed about 80 kilometers northwest of Canada's Queen Charlotte Islands in the Pacific. The machine was on a military charter flight to Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage , Alaska. All 101 inmates died.

• On November 24, 1971, a Boeing 727-051 was hijacked by DB Cooper on Northwest-Orient-Airlines flight 305 . The passengers were allowed to leave the plane in Seattle . Cooper asked the pilot to fly to Mexico. During the night of the flight and during a thunderstorm, he jumped out of the 727 with a ransom of US $ 200,000. Nothing happened to the crew. The FBI's investigation was finally closed on July 13, 2016.

• On August 16, 1987, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 ( N312RC ) crashed on Northwest Airlines Flight 255 shortly after taking off from Detroit , Michigan Airport . Of the 149 passengers and 6 crew members, only one four-year-old girl survived. In addition, 2 people were killed on the ground. Incorrectly configured buoyancy aids are considered to be the cause of the accident .

• On December 3, 1990, two Northwest Airlines aircraft collided in the fog on the ground at Detroit Airport , a Douglas DC-9 on the way to Pittsburgh and a Boeing 727 on the way to Memphis . The DC-9 pilots had accidentally rolled onto the runway. In the collision at over 150 km / h, one wing of each machine was torn off and fire broke out on the DC-9. 8 people died, 198 people survived (see also plane collision at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, 1990 ) .

• On November 5, 1993, a ground crew member at Newark International Airport was killed when she ran into the running propeller blades of a Northwest Airlink Fairchild SA-227C Metro III regional aircraft that was being dispatched for a departure to Boston (see also Northwest Airlink Flight 3724 ) .

• On December 1, 1993 a British Aerospace 3101 Jetstream 31 (N334PX) of Northwest Airlines, which was operated by its subsidiary Northwest Airlink , hit Range Regional Airport, Minnesota, at a very high rate of descent, a good 5 km from the airport. All 18 occupants on board were killed. The cause was found to be the collapse of coordination within the cockpit crew due to the very dominant, provocative and intimidating behavior of the captain (see also Northwest Airlink flight 5719 ) .

• On January 19, 2003, a mechanic rolled an Airbus A319 operated by Northwest Airlines (N313NB) at New York-LaGuardia Airport with far too much thrust over the apron. As a result, he rammed a Boeing 757-251 of this (N550NW) and the concrete base of a passenger boarding bridge at such a speed that the Airbus was a total write-off . A crack measuring 2 m × 0.60 m was created on the fuselage of the Boeing 757. People were not harmed.

• On August 19, 2005, the nose landing gear of a Boeing 747-200 (N627US) collapsed while landing at Guam / Won Pat Airport . While working through the checklists, the flight crew overlooked the relevant red warning light several times. All 334 inmates survived; the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

• On December 25, 2009, a 23-year-old Nigerian attempted to detonate an explosive device while on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 with 289 people on board, and was overpowered by another passenger.

See also

• Former Airlines List (America)

Web links

Commons : Northwest Airlines  - Album containing pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gerald N. Sandvick: Enterprise in the Sky, The Early Years of Air Commerce in Minnesota (PDF)
2. ↑ Aero, year 1984, issue 59, page 1632
3. ↑ rzjets.net: http://rzjets.net/operators/?show=1066. In: rzjets.net. Retrieved September 8, 2016 . 
4. ^ Geoff Jones: Northwest Airlines: The First Eighty Years. Arcadia Publishing, Charleston SC 2005, ISBN 0-7385-3415-3 .
5. ^ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher et al .: jp airline-fleets international . Zurich Airport 1984 to 2007.
6. ↑ http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/dyn/news/newsticker/861290.html
7. ↑ New aviation giant takes off ( Memento from August 1st, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
8. ^ Flightglobal.com: Delta, Northwest receive single operating certificate
9. ↑ ch-aviation.ch - Northwest Airlines' fleet (English) accessed on December 16, 2009
10. ↑ airbus.com - Northwest Airlines orders  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) accessed on March 31, 2008  
11. ↑ boeing.com - Northwest Airlines Orders, accessed April 29, 2008
12. ^ Accident report NC93044 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 21, 2016.
13. ↑ accident report DC-4 N95425 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 23 November 2017th
14. ↑ accident report Martin 2-0-2 N93040 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 1 of 2019.
15. ↑ ICAO Aircraft Accident Digest 2, Circular 24-AN / 21, Montreal 1951 (English), pp. 40-43.
16. ↑ Accident Report N93054 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 19 January 2016th
17. ↑ Accident Report B-377 N74608 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 18 2020th
18. ↑ ICAO Aircraft Accident Digest No. 15 Volume II, Circular 78-AN / 66 (English), pp. 99–120.
19. ↑ Accident Report B-720 N724US , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 22 of 2019.
20. ^ Accident report N290 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on December 17, 2015
21. ↑ Dan Cooper case: FBI abandons search for hijacker after 45 years. In: Spiegel Online. July 13, 2016, accessed July 14, 2016 . 
22. ↑ accident report N312RC , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 19 January 2016th
23. ↑ accident report N334PX , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 24 March 2016th
24. ↑ Accident report A319 N313NB , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 31, 2020.
25. ↑ accident report N627US , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 16 January 2016th
26. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report in the Aviation Safety Network (English)