Northwest Airlines

Northwest Airlines began its existence in 1926 as an air mail carrier from Minnesota/St. Paul to Chicago. Since then, the Twin Cities airline has grown into one of the largest passenger carriers in the world.

Over the decades, Northwest Airlines expanded its operations overseas, beginning flights to Tokyothere shortly after World War II, which lead to global expansion throughout the 1950s and 60s. By the 1980s, Northwest purchased rival Republic Airlines, helping grow its domestic share. In 1991, Northwest and KLM began a partnership, offering direct flights between their two headquarters. Northwest's ledger, though was clouded after 9/11, rapidly descending the airline into quarterly losses and ultimately leading the airline to file for bankruptcy in 2005.

In October 2008, Northwest Airlines was purchased by Delta Airlines after receiving final clearance from federal regulators, just over six months after informally agreeing to the deal. Changes from the new combined airline, thought to now be the largest in the world, are to be noticed by fliers in early 2009.

by Ray Salloom Are you a writer, passionate about this or any other topic? Join Blogcritics!

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “Northwest Airlines”

• Northwest Flight 188 incident: ATC audio and transcripts released by FAA

  
  Aircrew Buzz — Authority: 112
  by B. N. Sullivan You may have read some news reports today about the FAAs release of air traffic control audio and transcripts related to the incident in October in which Northwest Airlines Flight 188 was NORDO for over and hour and overflew Minneapolis , its destination -- also known as the laptop pilots ...
  21 hours ago

• FAA releases Northwest Flight 188 audio and transcripts

  
  City Pages - The Blotter — Authority: 720
  "We got distracted," is how the cockpit crew described blowing 150 miles past their scheduled destination.
  21 hours ago

• Black Friday Frenzy

  
  Watch your favorite videos on the internet. — Authority: 180
  In what has been described as the busiest shopping day of the year, CBS News Don Teague reports that retailers are nervous over how much consumers will spend as they hit the stores this Black Friday.
  21 hours ago

• Dubai Debt Sparks Uncertainty

  
  Watch your favorite videos on the internet. — Authority: 180
  An embattled Wall Street now faces concerns over debts plaguing the once-prosperous city of Dubai. As Hari Sreenivasan reports, Dubais setbacks have caused fears of a new potential credit crisis.
  21 hours ago

• Distracted Pilot Recordings

  
  Watch your favorite videos on the internet. — Authority: 180
  Harry Smith reports on the Federal Aviation Administrations recent release of audio tapes revealing crew members from a Northwest Airlines flight, which flew 100 miles past its target destination, speaking with air traffic controllers.
  21 hours ago

• Wayward Pilots Were ‘Distracted,’ Transcripts Show

  
  NYT > Theater — Authority: 905
  Transcripts show that a controller twice asked pilots why they flew 150 miles past their destination.
  1 day ago

• What happened on Northwest Airlines Flight 188

  
  AIRLINE BIZ — Authority: 527
  We have two interesting items Friday about the Northwest Airlines flight last month that alarmed people after it didnt have radio contact for more than an hour, and it overflew Minneapolis-St. Paul. We have the Associated Press story that talks about the Federal Aviation Administration transcript of the conversations ...
  1 day ago

• FAA Releases Transcripts of Northwest Flight That Overflew Minneapolis

  
  American Conservative Daily — Authority: 502
  New transcripts from the Northwest Airlines flight that overflew Minneapolis show air traffic controllers asking the crew about what happened, and whether they had enough fuel.
  1 day ago

• 
  NYT > Theater — Authority: 905
  
  3 days ago

• A Tougher DOT Hits Airlines For Stranding Passengers

  
  WSJ.com: The Middle Seat Terminal — Authority: 120
  The DOT fines three airlines for leaving passengers stranded aboard a jet overnight.
  4 days ago

• Only approved electronic devices allowed in the cockpit?

  
  Gadling — Authority: 702
  Filed under: North America , United States , Airlines Maybe the flight attendants should start talking to the cockpit, too. When a plane overshot Minneapolis last month because the crew was playing around with personal laptops, national attention turned to what actually goes on in the front of the plane. ...
  6 days ago

• Debra O’Connor: Amazing Advocate

  
  Judy Vorfeld's Office Support Services — Authority: 116
  Debra O’Connor, Pioneer Press Watchdog, is one of my heroes. Two years ago, thanks to her willingness to advocate for Mark Grewing, dozens of volunteers and Pioneer Press readers came to the aid of Grewing, a White Bear Lake man whose service dog had been taken away. Today, Mark Grewing and his new companion dog, ...
  6 days ago

• Air Travel Computer Breakdown: The Hardest Hit Airlines

  
  WSJ.com: The Middle Seat Terminal — Authority: 120
  AirTran Airways, Delta Air Lines and jetBlue Airways seem to be hardest hit from this morning’s Federal Aviation Administration computer breakdown.
  1 week ago

• Delta joins the ranks of "cashless cabins"

  
  Gadling — Authority: 702
  Filed under: North America , United States , Airlines , Transportation , News , Central America , Caribbean I cant remember the last time I paid with cash for a drink on a domestic flight. Even on my last few international flights, I pulled out the plastic when it was time for a nerve-calming vodka-cran. So ...
  1 week ago

• Controllers Were Slow to Notify Defense Command of Errant Jet

  
  NYT > Theater — Authority: 905
  Air traffic control supervisors delayed nearly an hour in notifying Norad that a Northwest Airlines jetliner was not responding to radio calls.
  2 weeks ago

• FAA says air traffic controllers were late on the NWA overshoot

  
  City Pages - The Blotter — Authority: 720
  The military says fighter jets were ready to intercept Flight 188, but didnt get the go ahead from air traffic controllers, the FAA says.
  2 weeks ago

• The LG Weekly News Roundup: 11.12.09

  
  The Lost Girls — Authority: 127
  by Molly Fergus LG Travel News Editor Missed the big travel stories of the week? And the weird, wacky and insignificant ones? Weve got your round-up right here.... ****************************************** Riding the free rails Way to go, Amtrak! The broke and sometimes busted train service is finally ...
  2 weeks ago

• Our Capacity for Interruption or . . . How We Get Away with Daydreaming

  
  Blogs — Authority: 162
  At least the two Northwest Airlines pilots who flew 150 miles past their appointed runway didnt claim "daydreaming" as a distraction. Instead they asserted that they were caught up in doing business on their laptop computers. Daydreaming is often blamed for such space outs and missed external cues: a shift in a ...
  2 weeks ago

• Asleep At The Wheel!

  
  Ed Hinerman On Life Insurance — Authority: 124
  Airline pilots have been given a free pass by life insurance companies for a long time. The companies have assumed that if you are good enough to fly one of those big things for a real airline company, aviation won’t be an underwriting issue. New question on those applications should go something like, “Have you ...
  2 weeks ago

• Greyhound bus driver heads wrong way: Wheres a GPS when you need one?

  
  Gadling — Authority: 702
  Filed under: Stories , Transportation , Budget Travel Greyhound bus drivers generally dont make national news. Pilots who overshoot airports, however, end up having their story told over and over again on about every entertainment vehicle there is. How many places did you hear or read about the Northwest ...
  3 weeks ago

Comments about Northwest Airlines