Seems like there's been nothing but threads about how awful NW is in service, seat thickness, fleet, etc...

For the one individual who posted a topic about how much he disliked his flight with us between SFO and DTW...how there was no entertainment, a small meal, etc...I guess I have to fill ya in on a little secret...

NW and our fellow airlines just completed the worse year in aviation history, and are beginning a new year with about a quarter of the resources we had 3 years ago.

I can't help but laugh when I hear people complaining about the lack of ameneties on their flights in light of everything that has been going on. It's just incredible...the other ironic thing is, none of them are airline employees themselves...so I guess I have to be sympathtic to ignorance.

I hope our loyal NW Customers out there, and you know who you are, continue to fly with us, and understand that we are going through a time that is very difficult. Thanks for the compliments from a select few...it is appreciated.

Sincerely, SEAnwDC10

I have never fully put down NW and I do respect it. I do however wonder how some airlines are keeping up the quality of service while NW's is deteriorating IMO.
UA for example still shows movies on 3h+ flts. and I was served a full dinner even though it was a 9pm flight. On NW from DTW-SFO at about the same time my parents were served a snack and there was no entertainment. I am not saying that NW is bad but rather that there are differences.

NW is okay! I've never flown NW but I guess I would have managed. What I really like though is that every day I drive to work (next to AMS) I see those beautiful DC10 coming and going. AMS must be the busiest DC10 airfield in Europe. Thanks a lot for that NW! Geert

I like NW and I work for a competitor. I saw a NW pilot on tv a few months ago talking about Kansai?? Sorry, don't know the correct name or code. It was very interesting, he was explaining about landing in a typhoon or during an earthquake, or maybe both!

Those guys that post about lack of PTVs, lack of Dom Perignon in coach, etc... are just complaining because they can. Unfortunately, the old Orient side of Northwest Orient does have to compete with those boutique-ish Asian carriers a lot. So, its a little unfair.

Plus, I like KLM a lot, so NW is good for that too.

Service is a little thin in Texas, but other than that its a fine airline.

kind regards,

RogueTrader

Well, I got to admit, I'm a sucker for United. But NW is also a great airline, at least they were on my last experience (MOT-MSP-BDL-MSP-MOT).

The classic planes they use are quite nice to fly on as well.

...Serge  

Everyone has there opinion!!!

I think they are great! World Class hub facilities, just look at the new DTW and MSP and compare that to the crap you find at EWR, JFK, and LGA! They are getting 2 new aircraft a week and have plans to retire older aircraft AHEAD of schedule.

NW just came out of a horrid year, and a horrible CEO who raped the airline of it's money and soul. Dasburg was single handedly responsible for removing IFE from the Airbus fleet, cutting back on meals as well as groomers on aircraft. With Anderson at the helm things seem to be improving, but it's going to take time to recover from all those years of that clown Dasburg.

One of the VP's at NW mentioned in a meeting recently there are a lot of things in store for improving everyone's, employee's and customer's, perception of Northwest. "The next four years are going to be some of the most exciting years in Northwest's history."

Northwest is my airline of choice, and not because I'm a 'spouse' and fly cheap. Northwest is my airline of choice because they are safe, reliable and have the amenities I want, like a World Class Frequent Flier program, destinations I want to go to and an alliance that allows me to travel seamlessly between airlines and continents for that matter.

I can't wait to see all the NW bashers have to eat their words, much like the CO bashers had to in the 90's.

So to all you NW employees out there, keep up the great work, keep smiling because there are a lot of us out here that appreciate the hard work you do to make Northwest the safe and efficient airline it is!

Go Redtails!

This might seem harsh, but whilst I agree the aviation industry has had a bad year, Asian carriers and airlines like BA etc can still provide PTV, decent service etc.

Lets face it, if economic conditions cause the industry to shrink, then only the strongest will survive. This is why service etc is so important.

I have flown NW before and thought they were okay (much like other US carriers) but not in the same category as EK, CX, SQ, BA etc. However, now AA have unleashed their excellent MRTC product, it becomes a competitive advantage.

In any case, once NW starts receiving the new a/c I am sure things will improve.

I wish the airline well and hope it improves. But, I'm a frequent business flyer...the type that makes profits for airlines....and in my opinion, Northwest's product is inferior to the two airlines I fly most, United and American. That's my opinion and where my company's dollars go, will reflect that.

I think I've seen every airline ripped to shreds in here. Some people back it up w/ a bad experience others take the cowardly route and just bash the airline. Don't take it so personally. It is just a company. I get worked up everytime I go onto untied.com but I have to step back and relize that those are just hysterical rantings. Remember that all the major carriers lift the population of a small city in the coarse of a day, there will be unhappy people among such a large group, 99% of the small group who had a problem will be satisfied w/ the solution. Only a tiny fraction of them every complain more loudly. It the loudness you hear not the silent majority.

I was once given a tour of the Customer Relations division at UA. They hae a file on the career complainers. These people complain about EVERY flight yet they keep coming back. To paraphrase a quote from Abrahan Lincoln If you look for something wrong you will surely find it.

Just let it all slide, NW does a good job. Hopfully w/ DTW's new terminal that hub will no longer be a black hole it once was.

As a number of us have said before your maudlin sop on how wonderful NW really is, we do not fly NW for the service or the amenities (there are none). We fly NW because it flies where we want to go with good connections and because it has a good FF program. I understand that you adore your employer, but we as the travelling public have our opinions too. And to give you a great deal of slack, we're not exactly comparing NW with the likes of Singapore and Emirates - we're comparing it to UA, DL, etc.

NW is not a great airline in terms of their inflight service but they're not bad, they're ok.

Yes, NW may have cut some services, perhaps more than the others...but NW also is doing the best financially out of all the majors (sure UA might still feed you and show you a movie, but they are also losing billions of dollars a year).

NW has also just opened a new multi-billion dollar hub in DTW, has major work going on in MSP, AND is going thru one of the biggest fleet renewal programs that MUST be paid for somehow (one new plane about every 2 WEEKS). Not to mention spending extra money on security like adding extra lanes to speed passengers through.

Sure, the IFE and large meals are gone short term, but if it saves the airline (or even at least some jobs) then that's fine with me. The service will come back, just wait and see. And when it does, NW will have lots and lots of brand new airplane, and some of the best hub facilities in the world. What will you complain about then? I am sure you will find something...

I've never flown NWA, but I hear there a great airline from other friends. They seem to have a pretty good on-time record. My favorite airline though is either Delta or USAirways.

I am hoping that NW is right now taking a serious look at the eventual replacement for its very large DC-9 fleet. While they have served NW well the planes are starting to get way up there in terms of takeoff/landing cycles and they will soon get pretty expensive to do C and D check overhauls.

I think within two years NW will announce a plan to replace their DC-9's over a 6-8 year period. Whatever plane NW decides to buy will definitely benefit the airframe manufacturer, because I expect the order to be somewhere between 120 to 145 airframes.

Will it be more Airbus A319's? Will NW order the A318? Will NW seriously look at the Boeing 717-200? Or will NW look at the Fairchild-Dornier 928-100/200?

Actually some of us don't really care about fancy IFEs with 100 channels and free champagne in coach. However, it would be nice to have the following:

a. More than 30" of pitch in Coach on a transatlantic DC-10
b. An audio program that has more than 2 channels which are barely audible (Yes, thats happened 3 times)
c. FAs who don't treat Coach passengers like garbage (NW can take a hint on how to treat passengers with respect from .....Gasp !! United !!)
d. Ticketing agents who don't deny you that exit row seat even if you've shown up 4 hours prior to departure just because they want to be obnoxious.
e. A meal service on a 8.5 hour AMS-Bombay flight that is a little more than a nuked pizza roll.

Lets face it - - - your airline's inflight service stinks !

Well, it's been an awful year for most airlines (except maybe Qantas), but most of these airlines like UA have been able to keep up with their level of service. Asian carriers like CX and SQ and EK still continue to provide the same safe flight that NW can provide, but with lots of frills thrown in, like pretty FAs and fantastic IFE. I think for us very spoilt Asians, the question always is, all airlines aren't in the rosiest of times, but Asian airlines continue to deliver the frills. Since Asian airlines are capable of doing so, why not NW?

i have to agree that servie on NW is really bad. it's not just the whole 9/11 incident. people have been complaining about NW for the past few years. ask anyone who lives in a NW hub, and they will all tell you how horrible it is.

I am not bashing Northwest Airlines, but I think SEAnwDC10 is a little off base. Yes, 2001 was a terrible for the airline industry. However, the events of September 11 happend late in the year. The airlines were already losing money at an incredible rate. The service on airlines was already deteriorating. I look at it like the stock market. After September 11 the stock market took a hit and went south in hurry. However, it was already on its way down. The events of September 11 just sped up what was already going on. The recession that we were in was going on 6-12 months ago. It didn't happen all of the sudden on September 11. Tying that back into my point: the deterioration of service, etc. on airlines was just sped up and was already in progess. Businesses find it convienent to use September 11 to blame things on when in fact those things were already happening. Another great example is the rise in the price of a stamp. The USPS said that it was for "increased cost directly related to the September 11 terrorist attacks". Well that's just a load of crap since the price hike to $0.37 was voted on and passed by the USPS in late August/early September. As a matter of fact, the September 12 edition of the Cleveland Plain Dealer had a small blurb on the proposed rate hike. Okay, okay, way off track, but point being that all of these things were already happening. September is a convient and relatively unargueable "excuse".

I am not bashing Northwest Airlines, but I think SEAnwDC10 is a little off base. Yes, 2001 was a terrible for the airline industry. However, the events of September 11 happend late in the year. The airlines were already losing money at an incredible rate. The service on airlines was already deteriorating. I look at it like the stock market. After September 11 the stock market took a hit and went south in hurry. However, it was already on its way down. The events of September 11 just sped up what was already going on. The recession that we were in was going on 6-12 months ago. It didn't happen all of the sudden on September 11. Tying that back into my point: the deterioration of service, etc. on airlines was just sped up and was already in progess. Businesses find it convienent to use September 11 to blame things on when in fact those things were already happening. Another great example is the rise in the price of a stamp. The USPS said that it was for "increased cost directly related to the September 11 terrorist attacks". Well that's just a load of crap since the price hike to $0.37 was voted on and passed by the USPS in late August/early September. As a matter of fact, the September 12 edition of the Cleveland Plain Dealer had a small blurb on the proposed rate hike. Okay, okay, way off track, but point being that all of these things were already happening. September is a convienent and relatively unargueable "excuse".

Sorry for the double post.

Hi!

Here goes my 2 cents about this matter. I respect a lot NW, their heritage, the way they gave their contribution to civil aviation in the past, I can say that NW always was in the "top of the wave" until the lattest days, the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, the L1049G, the L188 Electra, the DC-8, the B.720, the 727, the DC-9, the 747, the DC-10-40, the 757, the A320/319, the 747-400 etc, etc..... The way they started the oldest aliance in civil aviation with the oldest airline in the world - KLM - and the way they succeded. We must give an aplause to them, but... as an aviation enthusiast I think NW is in the right time to make the "jump ahead", NW need to really think about the future in terms of replacing most of their fleet. The DC-9's are out now, the 727's still in? The DC-10-40's are also ready to leave, the 757 are getting a little bit old too, the 747's are too old.... I think NW must find out the best way to replace their long-haul fleet, the short haul is ok, the A319/320 is right but for medium and long-haul what's going to be the decision?
But my feeling is that NW will regenerate like a "Phoenix" in the time comming.
Finnally I never flew with NW ( with a lot of pitty ) but I'm still chasing that possibility in the future!
regards

FrequentFlyKid really got it right, twice. Not only NW but alot of companies used 9/11 as a sort of phony excuse for cutting service they have wanted to cut for a long time. AA closed most ( or all ) of their City Ticket Offices ( very inconvenient) right afterwards. I'm sure they have wanted to close those CTO's for a long time anyway.
But look at CO. Not cutting any services to the passengers ( the ones who pay the bills) and CO hardly lost any money last year. People will remember this and airlines like NW who used 9/11 as an excuse to cut services will be remembered by travellers when they chose other airlines.
And don't say " NW gets you there safely and on time". That's what we get and expect from ALL airlines.
I don't understand the NW philosophy shown by the airline and posted by some of their employees here that "we the public should be happy NW cut services so the airline could survive". Who does that benefit? The employees.

SEA DC10 - it was a great effort on your part, but I think you just added fuel to the fire. It will be impossible for you to change people minds. They are entitled to their opinion! UALPHLCS said it best... these people are a very small population of the tons of passengers NW carries every day. Unfortunately, people base their opinions too much off of one experience or no experience at all! Even more disapointing though, is that people don't want to hear why things happen and what the company is doing about them. They either don't have time or just don't care and would rather complain about things. We know what NW is doing to make things better and if people choose not to understand the big picture here, that's their fault. Not mine or yours or anyones that actually wants to make an effort to see the big picture. Just keep the positive attitude that you have and realize you'll never win publically on this forum.

To the people that are misinformed, do a search on this sight, go to nwa.com, go to yahoo news or any news source and READ about what NW is doing to take care of their aging fleet. They know the fleet is old, they're fixing it. They can't fix it all at once... it takes $$$$$$

Ray CHuang... why does every NW post have to get turned into a DC9 replacement thread? R.A. and friends know that the DC9s are old and they've said countless times that when they approach the 200,000 cycle mark, they will be replaced. Give it a rest and give R.A. and company a little credit for their positions in the company and that they're working on a solution.

AZJ

It does seem that those here on the forum who are aviation enthusiasts are also the ones who tend to be the harshest critics. I myself love flying and I have never had an experience on Northwest that would warrant some of the things I have heard here. I for one love to see NW getting the most out of its fleet and presumeably putting themselves in a better financial situation than American and United who, despite having younger fleets seem to be much less stable than NW at this point in time.

One other thing I have to remember is how much everyone seems to love Alaska Airlines (I use to work for them) no matter what they do......they have NO inflight entertainment (no PTVs, no audio) except those little "rental" DVD things on some (read- very few) flights. They have practically non existant meal service in first class and coach and when you do get something to eat its usually a microwaved slice of pizza in a paper/foil bag. Yet, people fawn over them all the time! Anyway, thats my two cents!

Jaysit:

Topic: RE: You Guys Really Dislike Our Airline, Don't You?
Username: Jaysit
Posted 2002-03-29 16:23:59 and read 124 times.
Actually some of us don't really care about fancy IFEs with 100 channels and free champagne in coach. However, it would be nice to have the following:

a. More than 30" of pitch in Coach on a transatlantic DC-10 ***WRONG THE PITCH IS STANDARD INDUSTRY 31-32" a found at nwa.com. The 30-31 is on the domestic model for high density (-40) and only -30s are used on international. The -40s are being retired anyway and the A330s will be nice won't they?!**
b. An audio program that has more than 2 channels which are barely audible (Yes, thats happened 3 times)
** And that NEVER happens on CO, DL, or AA, or UA or any other airline**
c. FAs who don't treat Coach passengers like garbage (NW can take a hint on how to treat passengers with respect from .....Gasp !! United !!) ***Oh please, when was the last time you flew coach from LAX-SYD and saw the FANTASTIC UA coach service from the flight attendants***
d. Ticketing agents who don't deny you that exit row seat even if you've shown up 4 hours prior to departure just because they want to be obnoxious. **sure, every airline has them**
e. A meal service on a 8.5 hour AMS-Bombay flight that is a little more than a nuked pizza roll. **Not the service others have posted on trip reports I have read or I have experienced on long haul NW international flights**

But everyone is entitled to slightly wrong opinions- just kidding, but give em a break...if you look for problems when you fly sure enough you will find them with ANY airline. Except Continetal or JetBlue ofcourse  

It's classic ethnocentrism. If you've had good experiences with an airline (or anything for that matter) you will continue to fly them and over time become loyal to them. When that happens you become very protective over them and spin everything to be a good, or at least not a bad thing, for that airline. That's not a bad thing, nor is it the wrong thing to do. It just is. I don't particularly like Northwest Airlines, however my experiences on them have been very few. First impressions make a big difference. If I fly twice on two seperate airlines and one has great service and the other has lousy service, regardless of the lousy service being an isolated incident, which airline will I choose for my third trip? Common sense should dictate the answer. I don't think that they are unsafe or anything like that. The people that are saying they are unsafe, etc., etc. because they didn't get a meal on a three hour flight are way off base and you should evaluate the context of their arguement. The people that like Northwest will, for the most part, continue to like Northwest and the people that don't like them will, for the most part, continue not to like them. Like I said, classic ethnocentrism.

For 2001:
510,000 flights operated by NW (approx)
26,000 flights operated by Cathay (approx)

54 million pax carried by NW (approx)
11.2 million pax carried by Cathay (approx)

Reads like a fair comparison to me.

-Loyal (and content) WorldPerks member since 1991

How many of you people here who bash NW, have flown them more than once or at all?

Actually, their route structure is part of the problem. If you live on the West Coast (as I do), you have no reason to fly them unless you want to fly to Detroit, Minneapolis, or Memphis.

I'm not bashing them, because I've had no experience on NW. But maybe they should think about having a bigger presence out West? (hmmm... HP might be for sale....)

NWA ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NWA ALL THE WAY!!!!!!

-If you don't like the size of the seats.
BUY A FIRST CLASS TICKET!!!!

-If you don't like the food.
STOP AT McDONALD'S ON THE WAY TO THE AIRPORT!!!!!

If you think there planes are unsafe because there older.
GIVE THEM A FEW BILLION DOLLAR'S TO BUY NEW ONES



Adam

You know whats amazing, NW builds a new, muti-billion dollar termanal, is working on one at MSP, and recives 2 new planes a week. but yet people still say 'Get new Planes' its unbelivable. you cannot ask for one thing and contune to expect another.

Fly the red tails forever!!

Although I had a good laugh at that seat thickness thing, I do enjoy a flight on Northwest. My first flight on them was last June, from SMF-MSP-DCA and from LGA-MSP-SMF, and the only flight in which I didnt get a full meal or large snack was from MSP-SMF, and it was at 11:00 at night! I respect NW, and I think that they are a good airrline.



 

FLY NW/KLM ALL THE WAY JUST WAIT

I haven't flown NW much, probably 30-35 segments over a 25 year period, but I must says it's the only airline where I found every flight to be below average.

It's nothing personal when a person says they dont like an airline...I think somethings are taken WAY to seriously! I personally DO NOT like NWA, and it would be preferential not to fly them again....but I do LOVE Delta, and am going to fly for them when the opportunity comes. Now if you have a problem with me liking Delta, I don't mind you telling me you hate it or it sucks...that is your opinion, that you are entitled to. Im not hurt too easily. C'mon now, let's stop this senseless bickering
Pilotchica
NWA 747-300 I know you are going to have something to say to me, and i respect your opinoin.

Well said Roadrunner165 and NWA.

Wow I guess alot of us feel the same way dash80 LOL

I would never hesitate to Fly NW, in my opinion they are and will always be a great airline.

FLY NW!!!

Let not fly NWA and say we did!

Try flying Air France...whatver you think of NWA, a flight on AF will make it seem like heaven! I'll still fly NWA any day...one of the few airlines left where you can get one of these...

Click for large version

Photo © Gregg Stansbery

Well, have been a KLM Frequent Flyer with Elite status for a couple of years (before joining the airline industry myself, thus not qualifying any more for mileage accrual) so that I really had a good chance to fly NW. If I take a quick look at my notes I guess that I did some 50 sectors on NW, both US domestic and transatlantic, both in First/World Business and Economy Class between 1993 and 1999. I have not had one single NW flight where I left the plane saying "wow, what a great airline!". But I had rather several flights where I encountered lots of trouble before or some inconvenience during the flight. Just some examples :

1993 A320 MEM-SFO Economy : On a flight of nearly 5 hours all we got in Coach class was 1 (one) muffin OR a pack of cereals. I have never flown a comparable sector on UA or DL, but if I compare that to a flight on Lufthansa from Frankfurt to, say Tel Aviv or Cairo, which is about the same distance, you get a full warm meal. And that was long before 09/11...

1996 DC10 AMS-BOS Economy : At boarding in AMS our seats were occupied by an american lady who didn't want to move because she claimed that it was her seat. I called the flight attendant to clear up the situation and showed her my boarding card for this very seat (while the lady didn't find hers...). Result : I was moved to the very last row in the DC-10, directly under the noisy engine. When the meal service came, my choice was no longer available and so on.... Super :-p

1997 744 DTW-AMS Economy : Normally at a night flight you have a quick meal service so that you can catch as much sleep as possible. However on this flight the crew needed 1.5 hours until they managed to serve a drink, and over 2 hours until the dinner came.... we were already in the vicinity of Greenland when we ate... so barely any sleep at night

1999 DC9 DTW-EWR First : Flight of 80 minutes, only a little drink service, nothing to eat at all.. so THIS is the famous First Class service?? What a waste of money...

1999 DC-10 EWR-AMS World Business : I had a full fare business ticket while my companions had economy tickets with valid frequent flyer upgrade vouchers and confirmed business class reservations for the sector, issued by KLM Flying Dutchman in AMS. However the lady at checkin rejected the upgrade because "you can't upgrade discount fares, and if KLM has issued you these vouchers then it was a mistake, they have no value". Hello?? Even IF you can't upgrade a discount ticket it should not be the fault of the customer if the partner carrier issues an upgrade voucher with a confirmed upgrade reservation for this specific flight?? Especially not if the Business Class is less than half full! After all we already had paid for the business class service, either with money or with miles which were deducted from my companions frequent flyer account. However the entire discussion with the rather rude checkin agent took some 20 minutes and it needed a talk with the station manager to finally get our booked seats. As a thank you our baggage was misplaced and our reservation for the connecting flight was cancelled, as we found out when transferring in AMS.

This was my last flight with Northwest and I can promise you that noone of us will ever use them again if it is not totally unavoidable. The institution which I worked for at that time even stopped all business travel on NW afterwards and gave their business to other airlines who deliver a better service for the same money.

Cheers,

Tom

Perhaps a different perspective might shed some light on things:

http://www.aviationplanning.com/

Click on 'Airline service issues' and scroll down to 'The Airline CEO Challenge' just a little way down.

Some of the other bits are entertaining (and true) as well.

They do not single out NW, but is indicative of the type of service many of the big airlines provide, does a good job of outlining precisely what irks passengers, and what airlines can do about it.

Very interesting reading...

Charles, SJ

Yes, I really do dislike your airline. NW is by far the worst American carrier. If you dont think so, fly a DC-10 lax-hnl. That will convince you.

NW kicks ass! They really do...  

I prefer Delta or CO but I have flown NW and found them to be excellent! My location and travels are not on there route's as much as Delta, but I would fly them every chance I had! Most travelers use there F/F miles and the airline that serves there city best! If I lived in the Northwest I would probably be a NW F/F!

what a sob story, how some can get so defensive over an airline.united has had the worst year in airline history, they will return. who cares if a select few dont like NW or UA or AA and like CX or who ever else better. build a bridge and get over it!!!

I admit that I have not flown NW too much so can not claim to be an "expert" on it. Recently I flew Business Class from Tokyo to Seattle, then F to Minneapolis and then F to PHL.

The domestic F was really good. Excellent service and meals. Aircraft interiors were a bit worn.

From NRT - SEA again the service was very good. It was a 747-200 so older. I must admit I found the cabin very old and worn. The seats were nothing special. UA has much better interiors.

Overall I would not hesitate to fly them again. But again, I have limited experience wit NW.

If you think it is such a sob story, then dont respond to anything that is posted..afterall, forums are for posting feelings and opinions
pilotchica737

I've never flown them, but their fleet decisions are pretty smart, and every plane I have seen that is NW, it is alwaus clean and shiny.