Highlight
1971 - Northwest is honored for noise abatement leadership by the National Organization to Ensure a Sound-Controlled Environment.
1970
January 6: Los Angeles—Honolulu—Tokyo service begins.
September 1: Chicago—Hawaii nonstop service begins.
For third year in a row, Northwest leads the U.S. airline industry in net profitability.
Howard Hughes, Jr. purchases Air West, creating Hughes Airwest..
Northwest offers the first Boeing 747 transpacific service from the four major gateways of Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Honolulu.
1971
Northwest is honored for noise abatement leadership by National Organization to Ensure a Sound-Controlled Environment.
Howard Hughes purchases Air West and renames it Hughes Airwest.
1972
Douglas DC-10 joins the Northwest fleet.
1973
Northwest goes "on-line" with computerized ticketing and reservations service to and from Asia.
North Central is the first regional airline stock to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
1975
May 28: North Central officially retires "Old 728," a Douglas DC-3 that is then the world's high-time aircraft with 84,875 hours (almost ten full years) of flying time in its logbook. The aircraft flew in scheduled service through 1965 and spent its last ten years with North Central as a company executive aircraft. Old 728 today is on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
Northwest is the U.S. airline industry profit leader for the fourth time.
1976
July 1: Northwest is the first airline approved by FAA to install coordinated flight crew training.
October 1: M. Joseph Lapensky is named president; CEO Donald W. Nyrop takes on added responsibility as chairman of the board.
1977
June 8: Nonstop service begins from Chicago to New Orleans and to Tokyo.
1978
The Airline Deregulation Act abolishes economic regulation of U.S. airlines, enabling them to enter and exit domestic routes without government approval.
In their last year of operation as independent entities, North Central Airlines serves 103 cities in 20 states and two Canadian provinces with 4,500 employees and major hubs in Detroit, Milwaukee, Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul; Southern Airways serves 50 cities in 17 states and the Cayman Islands with 4,500 employees and major hubs in Atlanta and Memphis.
Service expands to Fairbanks, Alaska.
1979
January 1: President M. Joseph Lapensky is named chief executive officer.
February 9: Northwest launches its first transatlantic cargo route: New York—Boston—Glasgow, Scotland.
March 31: Northwest enters the transatlantic passenger market, launching service to Copenhagen and Stockholm from the Twin Cities, Detroit and New York.
July 1: North Central Airlines and Southern Airways merge operations. The new company is called Republic Airlines, Inc., and is headquartered in Minneapolis/St. Paul. The combined route systems of the two companies meet at eleven cities, but do not overlap on a single route.
During the first full year following passage of the Airline Deregulation Act, Northwest enters more than 20 new U.S. markets, including: Phoenix—Twin Cities; Philadelphia—Orlando; Orlando—Ft. Lauderdale; Boston—Ft. Lauderdale; Boston—Orlando; Boston—Cleveland; Twin Cities—St. Louis; New Orleans—Tampa; San Francisco—Seattle; Los Angeles—Seattle; Philadelphia—Ft. Lauderdale; Boston—Tampa; Boston—Philadelphia; Boston—Detroit; Boston—Washington, (Dulles); Newark—Pittsburgh; New Orleans—Miami; Chicago—St. Louis; Portland—San Francisco; and San Francisco—Las Vegas.