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Northwest Airlines fleet

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List of aircraft operated by Northwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines Airbus A320

Northwest Airlines was a major United States airline which existed from 1926 until 2010, when it merged with Delta Air Lines and became part of Delta Air Lines' fleet. At the time of the merger, it had a total of 309 aircraft. It was also the last U.S. airline to have a dedicated cargo fleet and routes.

Northwest, unlike Delta, operated a mixed fleet of Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, and Airbus aircraft. The Boeing 757 was the only type of jet common to the pre-merger fleets of both Delta and Northwest. The airline ceased operations and merged into Delta on January 31, 2010. Most of Northwest's Boeing 747 fleet was sent to Delta which had retired all of its own 747s in the 1970s.

Final fleet

As part of a major fleet renewal program, Northwest introduced a simplified new paint scheme and logo in 2003, emphasizing its callsign (NWA). The airline replaced its McDonnell Douglas DC-10 airliners with the Airbus A330. Its first Airbus A330-300, used initially for European flights, arrived on August 6, 2003. Northwest also flew the longer ranged and slightly shorter A330-200 on some trans-Pacific flights, within the Orient, and on some trans-Atlantic routes. The majority of Northwest's flights between North America and Europe were flown in Airbus A330s. (Northwest became the largest owner and flier of A330s in the world.) Northwest Airlines also possessed the youngest trans-Atlantic fleet of any North American or European airline. Northwest Airlines also began flying reconfigured Boeing 757-200 airliners on some of its European flights carrying fewer passengers. Northwest was one of only two passenger airlines in the United States to fly the Boeing 747-400, with the only other one being United Airlines. One Boeing 747-400 originally destined to fly for Northwest Airlines was sold to United Airlines which was in service until United retired its 747 fleet in 2017.

Northwest was looking for manufacturers to discuss the replacement of their 100, 110 and 125 seat McDonnell Douglas DC-9 aircraft, with an average age of 35 years.

In January 2008, Northwest advised its pilots that the airline planned to cut its fleet of 92 DC-9s to 68 by the end of 2008. Northwest stated that pilot jobs will not be reduced, as they would hire approximately 200–250 pilots by the end of 2008. On April 23, 2008, due to soaring fuel costs from $1.85 in the first quarter of 2007 to $2.77 in the first quarter of 2008, Northwest announced that an additional 15 to 20 aircraft would be removed from its fleet by the end of 2009. The grounded aircraft included ten or so DC-9s, with the balance of the 15 to 20 being a mix of 10 Boeing 757s and 4 Airbus A320s.

The airline's average fleet age was 18.5 years by the end of 2009. The Boeing customer code for Northwest Airlines was 7x7-x51 (i.e. 747-451). As of October 29, 2008, at the time of the merger, Northwest Airlines' fleet consisted of the following aircraft:

Northwest Airlines fleet
Aircraft In
service 		Orders Passengers Notes
J F Y Total
Airbus A319-100 57 — — 16 108 124 All were transferred to Delta Air Lines.
Airbus A320-200 72 — — 16 132 148
Airbus A330-200 11 — 32 — 211 243
Airbus A330-300 21 — 34 — 264 298
Boeing 747-400 16 — 65 — 338 403 Launch customer.
N661US ship 6301, the first 747-400, which had a rudder hardover and an airworthiness directive as Flight 85, is preserved at the Delta Heritage Museum.
All were transferred to Delta Air Lines and later retired in 2018.
Boeing 757-200 45 — — 22 160 182 All were transferred to Delta Air Lines.
Boeing 757-300 16 — — 24 200 224
Boeing 787-8 — 18 48 — 154 202 Orders were transferred to Delta Air Lines, but were later cancelled in 2016.
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 30 — — 16 84 100 All were transferred to Delta Air Lines and later retired in 2010.
Never wore Delta livery.
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-40 7 — — 16 94 110 All were transferred to Delta Air Lines and later retired in 2011.
Never wore Delta livery.
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-50 34 — — 16 109 125 All were transferred to Delta Air Lines and later retired in 2014.
Total 309 18

Fleet gallery

Retired fleet

Northwest Airlines previously operated the following aircraft:

Northwest Airlines retired fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Boeing 377 Stratocruiser 10 1949 1960
Boeing 707-320B 5 1963 1971
Boeing 707-320C 30 1964 1978
Boeing 720B 17 1961 1974
Boeing 727-100 36 1964 1991
Boeing 727-200 82 1968 2003
Boeing 747-100 12 1970 1998
Boeing 747-200 24 1971 2007
Convair CV-580 14 1986 1994 Former Republic Airlines fleet.
Curtiss C-46 Commando 10 1942 Un­known Leased from the United States Army Air Force.
Douglas C-47 Skytrain 20 1944 1958
Douglas C-54 Skymaster 40 1946 1961
Douglas DC-3A 13 1939 1950
Douglas DC-4 4 1947 1961
Douglas DC-6A 7 1953 1963
Douglas DC-6B 17 1954 1965
Douglas DC-7C 17 1957 1968
Douglas DC-8-32 5 1960 1964
Ford 5-AT TriMotor 5 1928 1935
Lockheed L-9 Orion 3 1931 1933
Lockheed L-10 Electra 15 1934 1943
Lockheed L-14 Super Electra 9 1937 1939
Lockheed L-188C Electra 18 1959 1972
Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation 4 1955 1958
Martin 2-0-2 25 1947 1952
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14 21 1986 2005 Former Republic Airlines fleet.
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15 8
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15RC 5 1993
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 21 1991 2007 Sold to ATA Airlines and Omni Air International.
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30ER 3 1998 2006
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 22 1973 2002
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 9 1986 1999 Former Republic Airlines fleet.
One crashed as Flight 255.
Sikorsky S-38 3 1931 1935

NWA Fleet in 1960

Northwest Orient Airlines fleet in 1960
Aircraft Total Orders Notes
Boeing 377 8 0
Douglas DC-3 4 0
Douglas DC-6A 7 0
Douglas DC-6B 17 0
Douglas DC-7C 17 0
Douglas DC-8 0 5 First jet aircraft type operated by the airline.
Lockheed L-188 0 18 First turboprop aircraft type operated by the airline.
Total 53 23

Prior to 1960, Northwest operated several other types of piston powered propeller airliners including Lockheed L-10 Electra, Lockheed L-14 Super Electra, Lockheed Constellation (L-1049G model) and Martin 2-0-2 aircraft.

NWA Fleet in 1970

Northwest Orient Airlines fleet in 1970
Aircraft Total Orders Notes
Boeing 707-300B 10 0
Boeing 707-300C 26 0
Boeing 720B 16 0
Boeing 727-100 30 0
Boeing 727-200 34 0
Boeing 747-100 0 15
Boeing 2707 0 0 6 Options
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 0 14
Total 116 29

NWA Fleet in 1980

Northwest Airlines fleet in 1980
Aircraft Total Orders Notes
Boeing 727-100 4 0
Boeing 727-100C 12 0
Boeing 727-200 46 4
Boeing 747-100 12 0
Boeing 747-200B 11 1
Boeing 747-200F 4 1
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 22 0
Total 111 6

NWA Fleet in 1990

Northwest Airlines fleet in 1990
Aircraft Total Orders Notes
Airbus A320-200 6 19
Airbus A330 0 16
Airbus A340 0 20
Boeing 727-100 9 0
Boeing 727-200 62 0
Boeing 747-100 12 0
Boeing 747-200B 20 0
Boeing 747-200F 8 0
Boeing 747-400 10 2
Boeing 757-200 33 40
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-10 20 0
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 77 0
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-50 28 0
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 20 0
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 8 0
Total 323 105

NWA Fleet in 2000

Northwest Airlines fleet in 2000
Aircraft Total Orders Notes
Airbus A319-100 12 56 82 Options
Airbus A320-200 70 12
Airbus A330-300 0 16
Boeing 727-200 Adv 31 0
Boeing 747-100 1 0
Boeing 747-200B 21 0
Boeing 747-200F 12 0
Boeing 747-400 14 0
Boeing 757-200 48 25
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-10 10 0
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 115 0
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-40 12 0
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-50 35 0
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 22 0
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 21 0
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 8 0
Total 430 127

Northwest Airlink fleet

According to the Northwest Airlines historical website, a number of regional and commuter air carriers operated service as Northwest Airlink over the years via respective code sharing agreements to include the following airlines and aircraft types:

Northwest Cargo

A Northwest Cargo Boeing 747-200F at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Alaska, United States. (2008)

As of 2006, Northwest Cargo was the largest cargo carrier among U.S. combination passenger and cargo airlines. Northwest Cargo's fleet of 15 dedicated Boeing 747 freighter aircraft flew from key cities throughout the United States and Asia and connected the carrier's cargo hub in Anchorage, Alaska, United States (Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport), facilitating the quick transfer of cargo between large cities on both sides of the Pacific. Northwest Cargo also transported freight aboard the passenger fleet of Northwest Airlines to more than 250 cities worldwide.

As of early 2008, Northwest's largest cargo client was DHL International. In December 2007, Northwest announced that DHL International would terminate its cargo agreement with the airline effective late 2008. According to NWA Chief Financial Officer Dave Davis, the loss of its largest cargo client would bring significant changes to the division.

Northwest Cargo served airports and routes not served by the passenger operation — the last U.S. carrier to maintain a separate fleet and route network exclusively for cargo. Such cargo-only cities on Northwest's route map included Wilmington, Ohio, and cargo only routes included Chicago, Illinois to Anchorage, Alaska.

On April 21, 2009, Delta announced they were grounding 8 of their Boeing 747-200 freighter aircraft on December 31, 2009. The last flight of a dedicated cargo aircraft was December 26, 2009. Currently, Delta maintains freight activity on some of their passenger aircraft's lower deck.

Northwest Cargo Fleet
Aircraft Total Routes Notes
Boeing 747-200F 15 Freight

References

Citations

  1. Northwest Airlines Becomes Largest Airbus A330 Operator In The World (Official Press Release: October 18, 2007)
  2. U.S. Airlines Put Off Buying New Planes
  3. Using Old DC-9s Pays Off for Northwest Archived 2013-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Northwest Airlines To Reduce DC-9 Aircraft (USA Today: January 22, 2008)
  5. "Average fleet age for selected airlines". airsafe.com.
  6. "Northwest Airlines Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. August 9, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  7. "Delta Air Lines sends its last Boeing 747 to Arizona 'boneyard'". USAToday.
  8. "Delta Air Lines cancels order for Boeing 787 Dreamliners". USAToday.
  9. "Northwest Airlines". aerobernie.bplaced.net. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  10. "1960 - 0506 - Flight Archive". flightglobal.com.
  11. https://northwestairlineshistory.org, Timeline-1960s
  12. https://northwestairlineshistory.org, Timeline-1960s
  13. https://northwestairlineshistory.org, Digital Archive, Aircraft
  14. "1970 - 0544 - Flight Archive". flightglobal.com.
  15. "1980 - 1962 - Flight Archive". flightglobal.com.
  16. "1990 - 0769 - Flight Archive". flightglobal.com.
  17. "1990 - 0769 - Flight Archive". flightglobal.com.
  18. https://northwestairlineshistory.org/aircraft/, Northwest Airlink and Express airlines and aircraft chart
  19. NWA weighs cargo options after DHL (The Detroit News, December 5, 2007)

Bibliography

Delta Air Lines
Airline subsidiaries
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Key people
Fleet
History
Accidents and incidents
  • Flight 705 (1948)
  • Flight 318 (1953)
  • Flight 9877 (1967)
  • Flight 821 (1969)
  • Flight 841 (1972)
  • Flight 9570 (1972)
  • Flight 954 (1972)
  • Flight 723 (1973)
  • Flight 523 (1974)
  • Flight 1080 (1977)
  • Flight 191 (1985)
  • Flight 1141 (1988)
  • Flight 1288 (1996)
  • Flight 1989 (2001)
  • Flight 1086 (2015)
  • Flight 89 (2020)
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