Tag Archives: Northwest Airlines

Northwest A320 crew overflies MSP destination!

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman. N374NW is pictured arriving at MSP before the incident.

Northwest Airlines-NWA (subsidiary of Delta Air Lines) (Minneapolis/St. Paul) and Delta Air Lines are cooperating with the federal investigation concerning an incident that occurred yesterday evening (October 21). The flight crew of flight NW 188 from San Diego to Minneapolis/St. Paul overflew its MSP destination by approximately 150 miles! The flight was also reportedly out of radio contact for over one hour. The crew finally realized its mistake and requested ATC permission to turnaround and fly back to MSP. The pilots have been suspended pending the results of the investigation. The crew members were reportedly arguing over pilot and company issues. The aircraft involved was Airbus A320-212 N374NW (msn 1646).

News links:

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091023/ap_on_go_ot/us_northwest_airport_overflown

aircrewbuzz.com/2009/10/northwest-pilots-lose-situational.html

FAA orders A330/A340 sensors be replaced

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (Washington) has ordered U.S. airlines (Northwest Airlines/Delta Air Lines and US Airways) to replace the A330/A340 Thales Avionics pitot tube sensors (there are currently no A340s being operated by a U.S. carrier). However a probable cause for the Air France A330 crash in the Atlantic Ocean still has not yet been determined.

News link:

www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/09/03/us.air.safety/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Northwest Boeing 747-200 blows five tires

Northwest Airlines-NWA (subsidiary of Delta Air Lines) (Minneapolis/St. Paul) had an incident yesterday afternoon at Minneapolis/St. Paul when its Boeing 747-251B (N623US, msn 21705) used for charter flights blew five tires on landing at MSP blocking runway 12. The aircraft was later removed.

News link:

kstp.com/news/stories/s1062849.shtml

Delta to retire NWA Cargo 747-200Fs on Dec. 31

Please click on photo for full view, information and other Northwest photos.

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) in order to improve profitability of its cargo operation, will retire its 14 Northwest Cargo Boeing 747-200Fs on December 31, 2009. These 14 aircraft will not be repainted.

On the financial side, the company reported a net loss for the first quarter of $693 million, excluding special items. Excluding $684 million in realized fuel hedge losses and special items, DL’s results were basically break even. However DL’s reported net loss for the quarter is $794 million.

Delta completed the merger with Northwest Airlines on October 29, 2008. However their are still two air operators certificates (AOCs). The company is on track to have a single operating AOC by the end of 2009. When this occurs, this will be the technical end of Northwest Airlines-NWA.

Delta and Northwest to cross fleet some flights

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) will start cross-fleeting with Northwest Airlines some flights starting on April 1. The carrier will better match routes with aircraft types. Therefore some Northwest Airlines operated aircraft may be seen flying on some Delta flights and vice versa. The NW fleet is rapidly being repainted but technically there are still two airlines with two separate AOCs until the AOCs can be merged.

Delta to phase out the Northwest brand in 2010

Please click on photo for full view and caption.

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) is quickly repainting the Northwest Airlines-NWA fleet, changing signage and issuing Delta uniforms to NW flight crews. The Northwest brand will be gone by the end of 2010.

Watch for a special salute to the history of Northwest Airlines this summer in the Airliners Gallery digital photo library. Click on the photo for a sample and then search on “Northwest” (many more photos coming).

Delta is likely to trade 787s on order for 777s

Please click on photo for full view and caption.

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) is not likely to take the 18 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners Northwest ordered when the aircraft are ready. In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Delta deleted the 787s from the required report. Officially Delta has not yet cancelled the order but is reportedly talking to Boeing about additional Boeing 777s instead.