kann123air From United States of America, joined Jun 2009, 350 posts, RR: 0 Posted (6 months 3 weeks 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 4727 times:
Thought ya'll might find this interesting. A picture from the October 2002 WorldTraveler from NW that I got flying MEM-ATL on a DC-9. I found it cool to see 727s, DC-10s, and all those other old aircraft here.
Next flights: XNA-ORD-LAX-SFO,OAK-SEA-ORD-XNA on AA, AS, (738s) in F!
FWAERJ From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 3223 posts, RR: 1 Reply 1, posted (6 months 3 weeks 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 4706 times:
A year before the first A330 entered the fleet, before the NWA silver livery was introduced, and before the 727 exited scheduled service at NWA, to be exact.
My, how times have changed between the DL/NW merger and the NW fleet changes in between. Hey, at least we still have the DC-9s (for now)
FI642 From Monaco, joined Mar 2005, 1059 posts, RR: 2 Reply 2, posted (6 months 3 weeks 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 4595 times:
NW was fun working for in the early 1990's. The day started with an A320, then a 727, another 727, an MD80, DC9-40, 757, then another A320, 727, then a DC9-50. Diversions were fun too..... who knows what would wander in!
737MAX, Cool Planes for the Worlds Coolest Airline.
CalebWilliams From United States of America, joined Dec 2008, 269 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (6 months 3 weeks 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 4508 times:
I wonder if I still have the June 2002 version from flying MSP-AMS-CPH then LGW-MSP. First leg was DC-10 (KM) and but the second DC-10 was NW. What a nice memory.
PSU.DTW.SCE From United States of America, joined Jan 2002, 6910 posts, RR: 29 Reply 5, posted (6 months 3 weeks 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 4458 times:
Man, I think I have that page around somewhere too.
Coronado From United States of America, joined Jun 1999, 1011 posts, RR: 2 Reply 6, posted (6 months 3 weeks 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 4402 times:
That sure was a hefty 747 fleet. 36 beautiful jumbos plus we can't forget the additional 8 or was it then 7 all silver 747 freighters at that time frame?
The Original Coronado: First CV jet flights RG CV 990 July 1965; DL CV 880 July 1965; Spantax CV990 Feb 1973
VC10DC10 From United States of America, joined Apr 2006, 960 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (6 months 3 weeks 2 days 12 hours ago) and read 3967 times:
Those were great times! I remember flying NWA that very month from SEA to MSP. During my SEA layover (I flew in on QX) I recall seeing a 742 departing for ICN (I think... otherwise it was NRT, of course) and a DC-10-30 headed to HNL.
On another note, I certainly didn't recall Northwest Airlink operating 85 Saabs!
FWAERJ From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 3223 posts, RR: 1 Reply 8, posted (6 months 3 weeks 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 3886 times:
Quoting VC10DC10 (Reply 7): On another note, I certainly didn't recall Northwest Airlink operating 85 Saabs!
At one time, both 9E and XJ operated SAABs, so the number may have been even higher than 85. Keep in mind that 9E retired all of theirs as their CRJs arrived, while XJ kept theirs until several years after after the DL merger.
PSU.DTW.SCE From United States of America, joined Jan 2002, 6910 posts, RR: 29 Reply 9, posted (6 months 3 weeks 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 3845 times:
Quoting FWAERJ (Reply 8):
At one time, both 9E and XJ operated SAABs, so the number may have been even higher than 85. Keep in mind that 9E retired all of theirs as their CRJs arrived, while XJ kept theirs until several years after after the DL merger
I believed the number peaked at ~104 in 1998-2001.
MSPNWA From United States of America, joined Apr 2009, 1591 posts, RR: 4 Reply 10, posted (6 months 3 weeks 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 3538 times:
Quoting Coronado (Reply 6): That sure was a hefty 747 fleet. 36 beautiful jumbos plus we can't forget the additional 8 or was it then 7 all silver 747 freighters at that time frame?
Would have been 8 silver jumbo freighters at the time plus another four in special paint schemes.
So that would make 48 747s. Hard to imagine at this point.
Quoting PSU.DTW.SCE (Reply 9): I believed the number peaked at ~104 in 1998-2001.
That is something I didn't realize. I knew they had at least 50-60 (the XJ birds), but not that many with 9E too.
XFSUgimpLB41X From United States of America, joined Aug 2000, 3996 posts, RR: 36 Reply 11, posted (6 months 3 weeks 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 3523 times:
Prior to the horde of RJs allowed by the rape of scope in bankruptcy. Kind of sad, really.
JBo From Sweden, joined Jan 2005, 2281 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (6 months 3 weeks 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 3445 times:
I love how awkward the CRJ and Saab artwork is; neither aircraft is a very accurate portrayal. In fact, the CRJ looks like they just took the Saab art and put engines on the rear and a T-tail on it.
Also, it's too bad the 727 never made it into the silver livery. It'd have looked gorgeous:
[Edited 2012-11-28 22:21:39]
I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day.
PSU.DTW.SCE From United States of America, joined Jan 2002, 6910 posts, RR: 29 Reply 13, posted (6 months 3 weeks 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 3446 times:
Here is November 2000:
This was still back in the hey-day; the DC-10, DC-9, and Saab 340 fleets were at their max.
PSU.DTW.SCE From United States of America, joined Jan 2002, 6910 posts, RR: 29 Reply 15, posted (6 months 3 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 3248 times:
I know, its funny to see they only had 7 CRJs in 2000. Also funny to think that when NW first got the CRJ they were based in MEM.
WA707atMSP From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 2059 posts, RR: 12 Reply 16, posted (6 months 3 weeks 1 day 15 hours ago) and read 3196 times:
Quoting DeltaDC8 (Reply 14): Its nice to see such a low number of CRJs and a high number of DC-9s. Those beautiful workhorses will always be nice than a CRJ.
Agreed.
It's gratifying that the DC-9 outlasted half of the other aircraft types on this page in NW / NW* / DL service.
The 747-200, DC-10, 727, Avro RJ 85, and Saab 340 are all gone, but the DC-9-50 is still with us. Now, if only the -50s would outlast the CRJ 100!
NWADTWE16 From United States of America, joined Jun 2012, 242 posts, RR: 0 Reply 19, posted (6 months 3 weeks 1 day 7 hours ago) and read 2860 times:
That 727 looks so sweet..they were very well worn by the time they left though. The Avro's were such a disaster..i really dont know why we ordered them and they left quickly, after causing many maintenance delays...just a revamped BAE146 wasnt it?
PSU.DTW.SCE From United States of America, joined Jan 2002, 6910 posts, RR: 29 Reply 20, posted (6 months 3 weeks 1 day 7 hours ago) and read 2836 times:
The ARJ was ordered initially to be a DC-9-10 replacement. Due to scope reasons, partially what led to the 1998 pilots strike the ARJ was limited to 69 seats instead of an 85 seat single class layout. The ARJ was the first regional jet to have a 2-class cabin.
The ARJ was quirky, but was also a favorite by passengers. It had the highest ratio of F vs. Y seats so upgraded were plentiful (16 seats).
The ARJ also enabled NW to fly routes like MSP/MEM - ASE.
However NW decided to retain the DC-9-10s longer and did not take the additional 36 options on more ARJs (their economics were not that great, the downturn was coming, and the CRJ was all the rage).
WA707atMSP From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 2059 posts, RR: 12 Reply 23, posted (6 months 3 weeks 15 hours ago) and read 2467 times:
Quoting PSU.DTW.SCE (Reply 20): The ARJ was quirky, but was also a favorite by passengers. It had the highest ratio of F vs. Y seats so upgraded were plentiful (16 seats).
I flew the Avros often when they were used on MSP-FNT. I thought their F seats were more comfortable than the F seats in any other NW narrowbody. Their economics were dismal, but you're right - they were great airplanes to fly on.
FWAERJ From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 3223 posts, RR: 1 Reply 24, posted (6 months 3 weeks 12 hours ago) and read 2393 times:
Quoting MSPNWA (Reply 10): So that would make 48 747s. Hard to imagine at this point.
For a while after deregulation (1982 or so), NW ran a newspaper ad to launch their "The World Is Going Our Way" ad campaign. In it was a line that NW owned more 747s than UA, AA, and TW combined.
Which would make sense. UA's 747 fleet was small prior to the purchase of PA's Pacific Division, AA had sold some 747s (famously including one to NASA) and converted others to freighters, and TW sold many of their 747s to Shah-era Iran in the late 1970s (right before the Islamic Revolution of 1979) to pay the bills.
WA707atMSP From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 2059 posts, RR: 12 Reply 25, posted (6 months 3 weeks 12 hours ago) and read 2486 times:
Quoting FWAERJ (Reply 24): Quoting MSPNWA (Reply 10):
So that would make 48 747s. Hard to imagine at this point.
For a while after deregulation (1982 or so), NW ran a newspaper ad to launch their "The World Is Going Our Way" ad campaign. In it was a line that NW owned more 747s than UA, AA, and TW combined.
Which would make sense. UA's 747 fleet was small prior to the purchase of PA's Pacific Division, AA had sold some 747s (famously including one to NASA) and converted others to freighters, and TW sold many of their 747s to Shah-era Iran in the late 1970s (right before the Islamic Revolution of 1979) to pay the bills.
Around the same time, when NW management made presentations to Wall Street analysts, they would show two slides:
I. The number of NW vice presidents (very few) vs the # of PA vice presidents (a lot)
II. NW's balance sheet (almost no debt, lots of equity) vs PA's balance sheet (almost no equity, drowning in debt)
NW could just as easily have added a third slide, comparing NW's windowless headquarters at MSP to the Pan Am building, in lieu of slide I, and drive home the point just as well.
Which trans pacific airline did the Wall Street analysts think was a better investment after the presentation, NW or PA?
NWADTWE16 From United States of America, joined Jun 2012, 242 posts, RR: 0 Reply 27, posted (6 months 3 weeks 6 hours ago) and read 2377 times:
Quoting flyabr (Reply 26): Oh the good old days when you could make a connection in MSP and actually see some interesting metal! Those days are long gone...ugh!
DTW is the same bore!! Really missing those big Blue birds KL used to send it daily
treebeard787 From United States of America, joined Jul 2005, 507 posts, RR: 1 Reply 28, posted (6 months 2 weeks 6 days 15 hours ago) and read 2190 times:
Quoting flyabr (Reply 26): Oh the good old days when you could make a connection in MSP and actually see some interesting metal! Those days are long gone...ugh!
I used to fly on NW DC-10s PHX-MSP all the time up until they were replaced by 757s on the route, you could always count on seeing something interesting at MSP, I remember seeing SY 727s, NW classics like DC-10s, 727s, 742s, DC-9s. There were tons of Saab 340s too, and that was before the A and B gates were built, you actually rode a small bus to the aircraft. I remember when KLM flew a 747 on AMS-MSP, that was always cool to see. Now a days there isn't much variety in MSP, lots of DL and RJ's. One memorable flight for me was my first DC-10-40 flight, I flew LAX-MSP and connected to MSP-BJI on a Saab 340A .I remember being served a tasty hot meal in economy to MSP and I got to visit the flight deck of the Saab 340.
The picture shows the 757 as both -200 and -300. I don't think the -300 arrived until 2004. The 727 is still there, so it's interesting to see the -300 was added to the magazine well before the plane arrived.
flyabr From United States of America, joined Sep 2003, 600 posts, RR: 0 Reply 30, posted (6 months 2 weeks 6 days 4 hours ago) and read 1985 times:
Quoting treebeard787 (Reply 28): I used to fly on NW DC-10s PHX-MSP all the time up until they were replaced by 757s on the route, you could always count on seeing something interesting at MSP, I remember seeing SY 727s, NW classics like DC-10s, 727s, 742s, DC-9s. There were tons of Saab 340s too, and that was before the A and B gates were built, you actually rode a small bus to the aircraft. I remember when KLM flew a 747 on AMS-MSP, that was always cool to see. Now a days there isn't much variety in MSP, lots of DL and RJ's. One memorable flight for me was my first DC-10-40 flight, I flew LAX-MSP and connected to MSP-BJI on a Saab 340A .I remember being served a tasty hot meal in economy to MSP and I got to visit the flight deck of the Saab 340.
I remember a couple different domestic DC-10 flights. One was from PHX to MSP back in the late 90s. Another from MEM to MSP right around 9-11. Two of the smoothest flights I've ever been on. I really miss the roar/rumble of those old JT8Ds on the DC-9...but even more so those on the 727!
Quoting NWADTWE16 (Reply 27): DTW is the same bore!! Really missing those big Blue birds KL used to send it daily
I do recall once seeing a KLM 744 at MSP, and also an MD-11. I'm pretty sure the KLM MD-11 was a rarer visit to MSP than the 744, but i'm not sure about that?
WA707atMSP From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 2059 posts, RR: 12 Reply 31, posted (6 months 2 weeks 6 days 3 hours ago) and read 1938 times:
Quoting toltommy (Reply 29): Quoting kann123air (Thread starter):A picture from the October 2002 WorldTraveler
The picture shows the 757 as both -200 and -300. I don't think the -300 arrived until 2004. The 727 is still there, so it's interesting to see the -300 was added to the magazine well before the plane arrived.
The photo database has a picture of NW's first 757-351 departure in revenue service from MSP in July, 2002. So, it would have been in service at the time of the magazine.
The photo of the 1st revenue takeoff isn't sharp enough to show me, standing across the runway from the photographer on the top level of the parking deck watching the 757 take off. I remember that a few minutes before the takeoff, a DC-10-40 was towed from its gate on the G concourse toward NW's ex-North Central hangar complex along I-494; the transition from DC-10-40s to 757-300s had begun!
NW went from the bowling shoe to the silver bullet livery late in 2003, coinciding with the first A330. NW received 753s from Boeing in both bowling shoe and silver bullet liveries (all, of course, are now in DL Onward & Upward livery).
flyabr From United States of America, joined Sep 2003, 600 posts, RR: 0 Reply 33, posted (6 months 2 weeks 6 days 3 hours ago) and read 1921 times:
Can't help but wonder if DL wishes NW had ordered more of those 753s before production was ended? According to DL the 753 and A333 are the fleets most economical aircraft. I'm not sure if that was based on seat mile costs or what, but it was mentioned in the DL magazine sometime ago.
jetblueguy22 From United States of America, joined Nov 2007, 2053 posts, RR: 1 Reply 34, posted (6 months 2 weeks 6 days 1 hour ago) and read 1834 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW FORUM MODERATOR
Quoting JBo (Reply 12): Also, it's too bad the 727 never made it into the silver livery. It'd have looked gorgeous:
There is something about a T-tail with that silver livery that looks amazing IMO.
Quoting flyabr (Reply 26): Oh the good old days when you could make a connection in MSP and actually see some interesting metal! Those days are long gone...ugh!
You mean to tell me you don't like seeing CRJ after CRJ?!
Thanks for sharing this! I have a few NW mags stashed in a box somewhere back home. I always like flipping through them to see the good ol days when I dreamed of flying for them! It's all thanks to an A319 captain in BOS in Aug 2001 who infected me with the aviation bug and got me where I am today. I'll forever be grateful to NW for that.
It is interesting to see the RJ-85 in there. I always wanted to ride on one of those. I remember seeing one at LSE back before they retired them. I always thought the high wing was so cool. I'll never forget the agent giving a couple F seats to some soldiers who were headed back overseas. I thought it was so cool!
Blue
Professor Foltz: You push down on that yoke, the houses get bigger, you pull back on the yoke, the houses get bigger.
XFSUgimpLB41X From United States of America, joined Aug 2000, 3996 posts, RR: 36 Reply 35, posted (6 months 2 weeks 6 days 1 hour ago) and read 1805 times:
The ARJ sounded like a poltergeist was taking over the plane when the flaps extended!
I only rode on it once, but I'm sure glad I did.
Old and sometimes boutique airplanes come and go. It would be good to treasure the boutique MD-90 fleet that DL operates as well as the coming 717 fleet before it is gone!
treebeard787 From United States of America, joined Jul 2005, 507 posts, RR: 1 Reply 37, posted (6 months 2 weeks 5 days 14 hours ago) and read 1663 times:
Quoting XFSUgimpLB41X (Reply 35): The ARJ sounded like a poltergeist was taking over the plane when the flaps extended!
I only rode on it once, but I'm sure glad I did.
I only flew on the type with NW one time from DFW-MSP just before they were retired, and it was one of my favorite flights simply because the RJ-85 was so unique, there was nothing else like it. The only other flight I did on a 146 was with Air Wisconsin-UA DEN-MSO in the early 2000s. It's too bad they weren't more successful in the US.
SavannahMark From United States of America, joined Dec 2012, 22 posts, RR: 0 Reply 38, posted (6 months 2 weeks 5 days 13 hours ago) and read 1623 times:
Definitely reminds me of a better time when aircraft exteriors were more than a couple of flashy stickers slapped over a base white paint job.
FWAERJ From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 3223 posts, RR: 1 Reply 39, posted (6 months 2 weeks 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 1516 times:
Quoting flyabr (Reply 33): Can't help but wonder if DL wishes NW had ordered more of those 753s before production was ended? According to DL the 753 and A333 are the fleets most economical aircraft. I'm not sure if that was based on seat mile costs or what, but it was mentioned in the DL magazine sometime ago.
Back in the PMNW days, NW management said that it was a mistake that they didn't buy more 753s before 757 production ended.
MSPNWA From United States of America, joined Apr 2009, 1591 posts, RR: 4 Reply 41, posted (6 months 2 weeks 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 1358 times:
Quoting FWAERJ (Reply 32): NW went from the bowling shoe to the silver bullet livery late in 2003, coinciding with the first A330.
That was in July, 2003, IIRC.
Quoting FWAERJ (Reply 32): NW received 753s from Boeing in both bowling shoe and silver bullet liveries (all, of course, are now in DL Onward & Upward livery).
Yep, and to be exact, N581NW-N589NW were delivered in the Bowling Shoe. N590NW and on were delivered in the new colors.
PSU.DTW.SCE From United States of America, joined Jan 2002, 6910 posts, RR: 29 Reply 42, posted (6 months 2 weeks 5 days 4 hours ago) and read 1315 times:
The first 753s arrived about a year before the first A330.
Quoting XFSUgimpLB41X (Reply 35): The ARJ sounded like a poltergeist was taking over the plane when the flaps extended!
I only rode on it once, but I'm sure glad I did.
The "dinosaur roar"!
The ARJs were great. The first class seats were the same as on the 757 at the time. They were great on routes like DTW-OMA, DTW-DSM, etc.
KingAir200 From United States of America, joined May 2006, 1587 posts, RR: 2 Reply 43, posted (6 months 2 weeks 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 1108 times:
Sponsor Message: 
From United States of America, joined Jun 2009, 350 posts, 
From Monaco, joined Mar 2005, 1059 posts, 
From Sweden, joined Jan 2005, 2281 posts, 
I really miss the roar/rumble of those old JT8Ds on the DC-9...but even more so those on the 727! 
Printer friendly format 
