Northwest's hub airport in the Twin Cities has given the region an extraordinary level of air servic

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Radio Heartland Local Current Wonderground Radio Choral Classical Minnesota Public Radio About MPR Contact info Stations Careers Staff directory Company information Press room Members Events Shop Give Now Search MPR Northwest Airlines -- a look back at its long history Business Martin Moylan
Of course, Northwest has been often ridiculed by many of its customers and employees. The airline's failings have always been very public, making Northwest a favorite target of comedians -- and the media -- who've lampooned the airline for everything from boozing pilots to a flight that ends up at the wrong airport.
Northwest's hub airport in the Twin Cities has given the region an extraordinary level of air service, particularly overseas. Far better than what most other comparably-sized markets in the country enjoy.
In addition to providing an essential service, Northwest has provided tens of thousands of Minnesotans cheap tickets to india with good-paying jobs. Northwest, 1927 Photographer: Hibbard Studio , courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society
The airline has been an industry pioneer cheap tickets to india in the deployment of everything from oxygen masks to radar. And attention, non-smokers, Northwest was the first airline to snuff out smoking on all domestic flights, back in 1988.
Northwest started out carrying airmail from the Twin Cities to Chicago. The carrier's fleet consisted of two rented, open-cockpit biplanes. Lewis Brittin Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society
In July 1927, Northwest's first passenger flight took off for Chicago. A one-way ticket cost $40, which would be nearly $500 today. The flight took 12 1/2-hours, including stops in La Crosse, Madison, and Milwaukee.
"We were on our own. If the weather got bad, we just had to stop where we were and wait until it got better. We would usually fly into a farmer's field, circle it to make sure there wasn't a haystack in the middle of it, and land," cheap tickets to india said Kimm. "Take our mail and put it on the train. Passengers if we had any, also on the train. And we would sit it out for a day or two till the weather got better and we could get out of there."
In the summer of 1947, Northwest began service from the Twin Cites to Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai and Manila. Northwest would grow to become a major player in the Pacific. And the airline took on a new name -- Northwest Orient. Pilot Joe Kimm Photo by Northwest Airlines, courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society
By 1984, Northwest was the leading U.S. carrier in the Pacific. But Northwest executives felt they had to get bigger. They wanted a stronger domestic route system that could feed passengers to Northwest's Pacific flights.
"The world is changing quickly. The competitive marketplace is dictating a lot of action that, in the past, probably would have been considered rather unusual for Northwest," said Rothmeier at the time.
At the time, Northwest's $884 million purchase of Republic was the largest merger in airline history. The combination of Northwest and Republic assured the Twin Cities would have extensive cheap tickets to india air service. Without the merger, neither airline may have survived.
"Our on-time performance started out very poorly. It was running at 42 percent," said Baskfield. cheap tickets to india "We've had some real problems with lost bags. We've had problems with unions vs. unions. Unions vs. supervision. Northwest vs. Republic. But maybe worst of all, we've had a serious attitude problem."
Before the merger was a year old, catastrophe struck. In August 1987, a Northwest MD-80 jet crashed in Detroit as it attempted to take off. An eyewitness described the scene. Northwest plane Photo by Leo J. Kohn, courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society
"Within seconds the flames got bigger, and the plane was on fire, and seconds after that it exploded. Great big explosion. It was airborne, but it was having troubles, and we looked cheap tickets to india and it was on fire."
"It'll be a whole lot more fun for employees. One thing I've learned about the service business and service employees is they want to serve -- they want to make customers happy," Checchi said at the time. "And if you can give customers better service, you'll have employees who are much more excited."
With Christmas of 1991 less than two weeks away, a legislative commission approved the final elements cheap tickets to india of a deal amid heated debate. Supporters hailed the package, But critics decried it as a fraud, a bailout and blackmail.
"Next to watching the horrific events of Sept. 11 on television, the next most difficult thing for all of us at Northwest is the impact it has on the people's lives at Northwest," said Anderson at the time. Mechanics on strike MPR Photo/Bianca Vazquez Toness
The following years were some of the most difficult in the airline's history. They included billions of dollars in losses, a strike that crushed the mechanics' union, cheap tickets to india and a bankruptcy cheap tickets to india filing in 2005.
"We sort of re-said our vows. We are blessed to have the opportunity to be an airline in the Twin Cities," said Steenland at the time. "It has a strong economy, and our customers here have been very good to us. We have no intention to do anything here but hopefully be able to grow the hub."
"Northwest overall cheap tickets to india has done as good a job as could be done under very, very difficult circumstances," said Carlson. "If somebody said, 'Arnie, we'd love you to be a CEO,' I'll tell you, I'd pay anything not to be a CEO of an airline."
With Delta closing its acquisition of Northwest this week, it is now the world's biggest airline. Northwest's signature red tail will start disappearing from the skies in 2009, as the planes are repainted in Delta's colors. Gallery Christening of a Northwest Airlines airmail express plane, 1926. Minnesota Historical Society View full gallery A Northwest Airways airmail plane operated by Western Union. 1927. Photographer: Hibbard Studio , courtesy of the Minnesota cheap tickets to india Historical Society Col. Lewis Brittin, founder of Northwest Airlines. 1928. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society Northwest pilot Joe Kimm, far left, along with pilot Hugh Rueschenberg, poses with aviator cheap tickets to india Amelia Earhart. 1932. Photo by Northwest Airlines, courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society Flight attendant Burnece Sorby at the door of a Northwest Airlines plane. 1939. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society In 1946, Northwest flew two route survey flights to "the Orient" in one of the airline's DC-4s. the airline was anxkous to obtain the rights to fly service to the U.S. from Japan, China, the Philippines, and Korea. Photo courtesy of Geoff Jones Northwest Airlines plane, ca. 1950. Photo by Leo J. Kohn, courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society Mike Allen, then a 19-year mechanic at Northwest, was among the first to hit the picket line at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport when the mechanics went on strike in August 2005. MPR Photo/Bianca Vazquez Toness Richard Anderson (C), CEO of Delta, cheap tickets to india and Doug Steenland (R), president and CEO of Northwest Airlines, and Mike Campbell (L), VP of Delta, answer questions during a press conference April 15, 2008 in New York City. Chris Hondros/Getty Images Combined, Northwest and Delta would form the world's biggest airline. cheap tickets to india MPR Graphic/Martin Moylan This map shows cities in the region served by Northwest and Delta. MPR Graphic/Than Tibbetts Delta Air Lines named Richard Anderson to the top job Aug. 21, 2007. Anderson held the CEO post at Eagan-based Northwest Airlines from 2001 to 2004. He remains the head of Delta, post-merger with Northwest. cheap tickets to india Photo courtesy of Delta Air Lines Northwest airlines sit on the tarmack at Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport. MPR Photo/Tom Weber Previous
Related Links Minnesota History Center's NWA Collection NWA History Centre Northwest Airlines Official History Site Northwest Photographs (Minnesota History Center Collection) Northwest Airlines Ads from the 1940s and '50s KSTP 1986 report on NWA-Republic merger Republic Airlines Ads Northwest Airlines, Chuck Yeager TV AD 1998 Northwest Airlines - No Smoking Commercial Broadcast dates All Things Considered 5:50 PM Oct 30, 2008 About the author cheap tickets to india Martin Moylan
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