Northwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines also abbreviated as NWA was founded in 1926 by Colonel Lewis Brittin and was originally known as Northwest Airways. It derived its name from the Northwest Territory of the Midwestern United States. Its first interest was in flying mail for the United States’ Post Office department and was doing the Minneapollis and Chicago mail route. It began hauling passengers in 1927 and started its first international route in 1928 to Winnipeg, Canada. Due to an air mail scandal also known as the air mail fiasco in 1930, it changed its name to Northwest Airlines around 1934. In 1931, they sponsored a test flight to Japan that was later known as the Northwest Airlines’ Great Circle and proved that flying from New York to Tokyo via Alaska could save as much as 2,000 miles. Northwest also flew soldiers and supplied from Northwestern United States to Alaska in fighting the Japanese empire during the World War II. They painted their tails bright red to serve as a visual aid during harsh climate.
After the World War II, NWA’s domestic focus stayed around the northern route of New York, Chicago, Seattle and Minneapolis. In 1986, they merged with Republic Airlines and was at that time the largest airline merger in the history. That merger enabled NWA to adopt Republic Airlines’ domestic network hubs in Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis-St. Paul. In early 2001 however, due to a tight competition with low-cost airlines like Southwest Airlines, NWA started to make cutbacks. Prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, they had to lay off employees and other cutbacks were done. They were forced to make dramatic changes with its business structure and made cost cutting measures. They also tried other options such as removing airline pillows, pretzels and in-flight entertainment in its domestic flights, even the removal of in-flight newspapers and magazines. Over 50 aircrafts were withdrawn from use in an effort to cut maintenance and operation costs.
And after huge initiatives to save money, NWA filed bankruptcy in 2005.During that period, Delta Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways were also operating under the bankruptcy protection. NWA’s stock shares dropped 50% after three days when the news was heard. It is also because when a company files bankruptcy, its stocks will be cancelled as a part of the process. In 2007, NWA applied to the United States Department of Transportation for nonstop service between Detroit and Shanghai and Beijing. They faced off against Continental Airlines, US Airways, United Airlines, Maxjet and Delta Air Lines. They received the approval to start service between Detroit and Shanghai starting 2009.
In 2008, Northwest Airlines stated that they will be merging with Delta Airlines to form the world’s largest airline. The merger was approved the same year and they started using Delta Air Lines’ name and branding in 2010.
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