Join us on these dates for the Full Museum Experience with the Hangars & 747:  Apr 7, Apr 8, Apr 13, Apr 15, Apr 17, Apr 27, Apr 28.

Family Tree
Northwest Airlines
1926-2004

"Aviation is essentially a young man's industry, it has the romance, the adventure. It's future however, lies in something entirely different. The cost to lift and carry a pound of pay load is the secret of the future." Colonel Lewis H. Brittin, Northwest's energetic and farsighted founder

Northwest Airways took off in 1926, with a couple of rented biplane carrying sacks of mail and the hopes of 11 employees and 29 investors. By the time it merged with Delta in 2008, Northwest Airlines carried the most passengers across the Pacific and was a top cargo carrier in the United States.

As it grew, Northwest pioneered—a northern route to Asia, all-cargo jet operations, a global alliance and other industry "firsts." Learn more about Northwest and its affiliated airlines—Hughes Airwest, North Central Airlines, Southern Airways and Republic Airlines. .

Northwest published this colorful 24-page 60th anniversary booklet in 1986.

Download Birth of an Airline
nw_logo_1945 NWA Stinson 1920s
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Northwest Airlines
Northwest Airways bag tag-iso
Hamilton Metalplane boarding_pilot Speed Holman
1920's Highlight
1926

Northwest Airways takes to the sky, carrying air mail from the Twin Cities to Chicago with a "fleet" of two rented, open-cockpit biplanes-a Thomas Morse Scout and a Curtiss Oriole

Northwest 1920's
1930's Highlight
1938

Northwest develops the first practical aviation oxygen mask, making possible high-altitude flying over the Rocky Mountains.

Northwest 1930's
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NWA hq St Paul_Ford Trimotor 1930s Lockheed 10A Electra in flight 1935
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Martin 202 in 1947 international_dateline_club_card_1949
1940's Highlight
1948

The "Red Tail" is painted on all Northwest aircraft for the first time, creating a trademark that becomes known world-wide and that continues in use almost 50 years later.

Northwest 1940's
1950's Highlight
1955

Northwest voluntarily becomes the first airline to operate without government subsidy on transpacific and United States—Alaska rout

Northwest 1950's
unloading_tvs_from_stratocruiser_anchorage L-188 Electra in flight
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1960's Highlights
1960

Northwest voluntarily becomes the first airline to operate without government subsidy on transpacific and United States—Alaska rout

Begins "fastest U.S. jet service to Asia" with Douglas DC8 aircraft, the airline's first "pure jet."

1968 & 1969

1968 & 1969 - Northwest leads the U.S. airline industry in net profit.

Northwest 1960's
1970's Highlight
1971

Northwest is honored for noise abatement leadership by the National Organization to Ensure a Sound-Controlled Environment.

Northwest 1970's
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nw_logo_1969 nw_cargo_early1970s
747-400_inaugural_boarding-pass1_side2_1989
nw_screenback_tv_test_media_event_1988 NW Airlink Shorts 360
1980's Highlights
1988

Northwest bans smoking on all North American flights, the first major U.S. airline to do so.

Northwest is the first airline to test seatback screens offering personal video programming.

1989

Northwest is the first airline to fly the Boeing 747-400.

Northwest 1980's
1990's Highlights
1991

1991 - Northwest and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines launch the world's first airline alliance, with joint, twice-weekly flights between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Amsterdam.

1997

Northwest is the first major airline to deploy compact self-service kiosks for the convenience of customers using electronic ticketing

Northwest 1990's
747-200 N640US freighter 1991 747-400 Worldplane photo39
nw_logo_1987 NWA-KLM special livery DC-10 in 1991
nw_logo_2003 757winglet_3
World Business Class meal
2000's Highlights
2002

First major carrier to offer Internet check-in on its website

2008

Northwest officially merges with Delta on October 29. Single operations begin in January 2009.

self-service kiosk check-in
Northwest 2000's
  • YouTube: "Northwest Airlines - The Sun Will Never Set" closing video to the 2008 NWA managers meeting.
  • NWA History Centre: Northwest photos, radio commercials, and links to YouTube videos of TV commercials from Northwest and its family of airlines: Hughes Airwest, North Central Airlines, Southern Airways, and Republic Airlines
  • Flickr: Installation and opening of Delta Museum's 2009 exhibit "Red Tail Flying: Voices and Images of Northwest Airlines"
  • Henry Ford Museum: Restored 1939 Douglas DC-3 flown by North Central Airlines, now painted in Northwest livery
  • Ad*Access: Duke University's collection of Northwest ads
  • Airline Timetable Images: Northwest timetables (covers-only and complete issues) and baggage labels
  • Minnesota Historical Society: Northwest Airlines records 1917-1998, including financial records, photos, videos and subject files from Northwest Airlines
  • Republic Airlines records, 1940-1986Corporate records and subject files of Republic Airlines (1979-1986) and its airline family: North Central Airlines, Wisconsin Central Airlines, Southern Airways, Air West/Hughes Airwest, Bonanza Air Lines, Southwest Airways, Pacific Air Lines, and West Coast Airlines
  • Hughes Airwest Memories: Photos, company newsletters, memorabilia, and employee stories
  • Herman the Duck: North Central Airlines history site with detailed aircraft information
  • Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame: Biography and photos of Francis Higgins, founder of North Central Airlines
  • Pacific Airlines/Southwest AirwaysAircraft photos, employee directory, scrapbook, stories
  • Southern Airways: Employee directory, reunions and obituaries, historical photos, company newsletters, music, and TV commercials
  • Book: A Million Miles without an Accident, by Northwest Airways, Inc., 1929 (reprinted in 1991). Picture book with large, b&w photos of Northwest aircraft, personnel, facilities and in-flight scenes.
  • Book: Aircraft in Northwest Airlines' History, by David R. Lane, ca. 1985.
  • Book: Airlines for the Rest of Us: The Rise and Fall of America's Local Service Airlines, by Stan Solomon, 2008. Includes histories of many regional airlines found in Northwest's family tree
  • Book: The Airport: Our Link to the Sky, by Robert Sidney Bowen, 1961. Children's book illustrated throughout with color photos of Northwest aircraft, personnel and operations.
  • Book: Ceiling Unlimited: The Story of North Central Airlines, by Robert J. Serling, 1973.
  • Article: "Donald W. Nyrop: Airline Regulator, Airline Executive," by Donna M. Corbett, in Airline Executives and Federal Regulation: Case Studies in American Enterprise from the Airmail Era to the Dawn of the Jet Age, edited by W. David Lewis, 2000. Tells he story of how Northwest's famous CEO Don Nyrop, a former head of the Civil Aeronautics Board, joined an ailing Northwest Airlines in 1954, with hopes of turning it around. Two decades later, Northwest had a standardized and updated aircraft fleet, excellent efficiency and profitability, and a reputation for operational safety and innovation.
  • Book: Flight to the Top: How a Home Town Airline Made History…and Keeps on Making It: The Absorbing 60-Year Story of Northwest Airlines, by Kenneth D. Ruble, 1986.
  • Book: More Than Meets the Sky: A Pictorial History of the Founding and Growth of Northwest Airlines, by Stephen E. Mills, 1972.
  • Book: Northwest Airlines: The First 80 Years (Images of America series), by Geoff Jones, 2005.
  • Book: Northwest Orient by Bill Yenne, 1986.
  • Book: Speed: The Biography of Charles W. Holman 1976. Holman was a world record-setting stunt pilot, air racer and Northwest's first flight operations chief
  • Book: Voices from the Sky: Little-Known and Long-Forgotten Stories About Northwest Airlines' Earlier Years, by Robert L. Johnson, published by NWA History Centre, 2007.
  • Book: Non-Stop: A Turbulence History of Northwest Airlines, by Jack El-Hai, 2013.