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Northwest Airlines is a United States airline headquartered in Eagan, Minnesota. The airline at nearby Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. Northwest Airlines' regional flights are operated under two airlines, which operate under the name Northwest Airlink.
Northwest has three major hubs in the United States: Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (where it accounts for more than 70% of passenger traffic), Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, and Memphis International Airport. Northwest also operates flights to East Asia from Narita International Airport near Tokyo, as well as flights to India from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. In September, 2004, it joined the Skyteam Alliance along with its long-time partners, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Continental Airlines. (Northwest was formerly part of the Wings Alliance). It codeshares with SNCF French Rail to destinations in France, and Thalys International to destinations in Belgium.
Northwest Airlines uses the IATA designator code NW and the ICAO code NWA. Its frequent flyer program is called WorldPerks.
History
In 1926, Northwest Airways began flying air mail from Minneapolis to Chicago using two biplanes. The airline's operations were expanded to smaller cities in the region by the end of the decade. In 1933, Northwest was designated to fly the Northern Transcontinental Route from New York City to Seattle, Washington: it adopted the name Northwest Airlines the following year.
During World War II, NWA flew military equipment and personnel from the continental United States to Alaska. This experience led the government to designate Northwest as the United States' main North Pacific carrier following the war. In 1947, NWA became the first U.S. airline to fly to Japan, using Boeing 377 Stratocruisers from Seattle (direct) and Chicago (via Anchorage). From Tokyo, Northwest flights continued to Shanghai, Manila, and Hong Kong. (Taipei replaced Shanghai after the revolution of 1949.) With its new routes, the airline rebranded itself as Northwest Orient Airlines.
After airline deregulation, Northwest began direct flights to other Asian cities, and gradually strengthened its presence in the southern United States. It also began flying to Britain, Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavia. In 1985, Northwest purchased Republic Airlines and adopted its three-hub network centered around Minneapolis, Detroit, and Memphis. Northwest returned to its original name with the merger.
The airline carries the undesirable distinction of having employed the first commercial pilots to ever be convicted of flying while drunk. In 1990, three crew members were intoxicated when they flew their Boeing 727 airliner from Fargo, North Dakota to MSP airport in the Twin Cities. Another incident occurred in January 2001 when a pilot flew a DC-10 from San Antonio, Texas to MSP. Upon landing, he had a 0.056% blood alcohol content level, above the Federal Aviation Administration limit. He was soon fired.
In 1993, Northwest entered its cooperative agreement with KLM, which was the largest airline partnership ever conceived at the time. Northwest gradually pulled out of its minor European destinations and focused its attention on the domestic and Asian markets once more.
Three Northwest aircraft were targeted in the failed Operation Bojinka terrorist plot of 1995. Also related to terrorism, just before the September 11, 2001 attacks, Zacarias Moussaoui (who was later labeled as a possible "20th hijacker" by the news media) was arrested after attempting to use a flight simulator operated by Northwest.
Fleet
Northwest operates the oldest airline fleet of the 50 largest air carriers, with an average aircraft age of just over 18 years [1] (http://www.freep.com/money/business/fleet24_20040124.htm). Many types in its fleet, such as the DC-9 and DC-10, have been abandoned by other airlines. Although Northwest is currently working to modernize its fleet, many of these older types remain operational. The airline's fleet (not counting Northwest Airlink) currently consists of:
Northwest also operates twelve Boeing 747-200F freighters.
Northwest's A330s and 747-400s have the first flat reclining seats in business class on any American airline. The A330s also have televisions on the back of every coach seat.
Destinations
The list does not include cities only served by Northwest Airlink.
United States, U.S. Territories, Canada, and Mexico
The Caribbean, excluding US territories
External links
