Northwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines is a United States airline headquartered in Eagan, Minnesota. The airline accounts for more than 70% of passenger traffic at nearby Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport.
Northwest has the IATA designation NW and the ICAO code NWA. 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 and one in Japan: Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport near Minneapolis and Saint Paul; Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport near Détroit; Memphis International Airport in Memphis, Tennessee; and Narita International Airport near Tokyo. Northwest also operates into India from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. The airline is partnered with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Continental Airlines, and most recently Delta Air Lines.
Northwest was formerly part of the Wings Alliance and currently codeshares with SNCF French Rail to destinations in France, and Thalys International to destinations in Belgium.
Northwest's current frequent flyer program is WorldPerks.
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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.
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.
If Operation Bojinka had not been discovered in Manila, Philippines, then the airline would have lost three aircraft over the Pacific Ocean flying routes from East Asia and Southeast Asia on January 21, 1995.
Northwest operates the oldest airline fleet in the world, with an average aircraft age of just over 18 years [1]. 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 currently consists of:
History
Fleet
Northwest also operates twelve Boeing 747-200F freighters.
These planes do not include the planes opperated under the Northwest Airlink name by Mesaba and Pinnacle Airlines.Destinations
The list does not include cities only served by Northwest Airlink.Asia
East Asia
South Asia
Southeast Asia
Europe
North America
United States, U.S. Territories, Canada, and Mexico
The Caribbean, excluding US territories
Central America
External links
Members of the SkyTeam Alliance
Aeroméxico | Air France | Alitalia | CSA Czech Airlines | Delta Air Lines | Korean Air
Future Members: Aeroflot | Continental Airlines | KLM | Northwest Airlines
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