分类: Northwest Airlines

Northwest's Orphan Mad Dogs

20/12/2025

Deregulation brought incredible turbulence to the previously rather placid US airline system and this was only mad worse by the PATCO strike of 1981 and economic downturns. This led to many airline failures and consolidation, which in turn led to airline's operating aircraft they didn't really care much about and which formed orphan sub-fleets. The small force of Northwest Airlines MD-82s was one such example, but one that saw surprisingly long service with its new owner regardless of the airline's disinterest in it.

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The 757 Story Pt2: Engines & Sales

21/5/2019

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By the time the design of the new Boeing 757 was finalized in 1979 it was clear it would be a big improvement over the 727-200 Advanced and yet some commentators were under the impression that with both the 757 and 767 Boeing was effectively competing against itself as much as against the Airbus A310. Initially sales seemed to give this a grain of truth but eventually the 757 would find its time had come.

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Eights to the Orient: Northwest DC-8s

18/1/2018

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By the late 1950s Northwest had solidified its place as a prime mover across the Pacific Ocean, but the landscape was changing and to keep its place it needed to select equipment to take it out of the piston age and into the jet age. Few were surprised when it looked towards Douglas for its first jets, however they would wear the red tail for less than four years.

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Transcon Luxury: Northwest’s Unique Strats

21/12/2017

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Boeing delivered only 55 Stratocruisers, and the civilian programme was always a footnote compared to the almost 900 KC-97 tanker transports, however the mighty Strat was the last word in luxury during the 1950s even if not the last word in economics. Northwest’s Strats were especially unique both in terms of their look and how they were utilised.

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Northwest's Heritage Nines Through the Decades: 1967-2003

25/9/2017

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Whenever I write a history of one of my US Douglas DC-9s in 1/400 scale there is a good chance that it will have ended up with Northwest, and even possibly Delta, through the continual mergers that constituted the deregulated aviation market in the USA during the 1980s. Following the recent release of a couple of nice NW nines by Aeroclassics in this post I'll quickly look at the livery transitions many of these Diesel Nines went through.

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Northwest Airlines 1994/95 Experimentals

16/11/2016

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There have been several occasions when airlines have tested out colour schemes on single members of their fleet for various reasons. I don't mean special schemes to celebrate or sponsor something but honest attempts to see what a new look is like in the flesh. Northwest was one such airline to try this method of practical examination out and went further than most.

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Sheds in the US Pt1: Shorts Supreme

20/2/2016

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Short Brothers of Belfast, Northern Ireland took their rugged Skyvan and developed it into the perfect 'high capacity' (for the time) commuter airline just as deregulation sent the third level airlines into expansion overdrive. The Shorts Sheds (as the 330 and later 360 became known) were the cream of commuter aircraft into the early 1980s when a few regional airlines had grown large enough to operate what had been mainline types, like the F-27 and CV-580, or large converted executive types, like the Gulfstream 1.

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Northwest Jumbo 400s Pt2: Shoes to Widgets Across the Pacific

5/2/2016

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Northwest had traded as Northwest Orient since the 1950s. Although the Pacific network was the cornerstone of its success to improve its relevance in the domestic market, which its purchase of Minneapolis competitor Republic Airlines had dramatically grown, it returned to being known as just Northwest Airlines. Even with this change the 'thermometer' scheme's time was limited as moving into the 90s Northwest adopted the 'bowling shoe' at the same time as its new 747-451s began to take the strain across the world's largest ocean.

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Northwest Jumbo 400s Pt1: Orient Launch Customer

3/2/2016

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Unlike its international US major contemporaries (Pan Am, TWA and Braniff) Northwest Airlines steered its way through deregulation successfully and built upon its extensive long-haul network so that it was in a good position to renew its long-haul fleet when needed. Northwest was famed for taking on well looked after secondhand frames and did so with both 747-200s and DC-10-30s but that didn't stop it being one of only two US majors to operate Boeing's much improved version of the 747 - the series 400.

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Jumbo Red Tails Pt2: 200s Into The 2000s

29/1/2016

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Northwest's 747 Classic fleet was expanded well into the 1990s as the airline was well known for purchasing quality used aircraft (not just 747s but also DC-9s and DC-10s) and getting maximum usage from them. This wise policy enabled the 747-200s to continue in service into the late 2000s. The 747 classics would in all wear four different liveries in Northwest service.

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Jumbo Red Tails Pt1: Northwest 747 Classics

28/1/2016

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Northwest was an early adopter of the 747 but unlike most US carriers, who bought the Jumbo for prestige reasons and trunk domestic and Hawaiian routes, Northwest actually had suitable international services across the Pacific to warrant their purchase. The 747 would go on to form the backbone of Northwest's long haul fleet for over thirty five years alongside the smaller DC-10-40s.

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Northwest's Orphan Mad Dogs

The 757 Story Pt2: Engines & Sales

Eights to the Orient: Northwest DC-8s

Transcon Luxury: Northwest’s Unique Strats

Northwest's Heritage Nines Through the Decades: 1967-2003

Northwest Airlines 1994/95 Experimentals

Sheds in the US Pt1: Shorts Supreme

Northwest Jumbo 400s Pt2: Shoes to Widgets Across the Pacific

Northwest Jumbo 400s Pt1: Orient Launch Customer

Jumbo Red Tails Pt2: 200s Into The 2000s

Jumbo Red Tails Pt1: Northwest 747 Classics

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