Service with Northwest
On September 24, 1997, Northwest Airlines concluded an agreement with Airbus for an initial order of 50 A319 aircraft. Deliveries were scheduled to begin in 1999 at a rate of 10 per year. Northwest purchased the A319 to replace its remaining
Boeing 727's and some of its Douglas DC-9's, and simplify its fleet by operating aircraft that provide commonality (with the A320) and versatility.Northwest's first Airbus A319 arrived on August 8, 1999 to employee ceremonies in Duluth, Minnesota. "It is most appropriate that we accept our first A319 in Duluth, home of our Airbus maintenance base," said Richard Anderson, executive vice president and COO (later Northwest and Delta's CEO). Christened "The City of Duluth," Ship 3101 went into scheduled service on August 12, 1999.
In Summer 2001, Northwest took delivery of the 100th Airbus aircraft to join the Northwest fleet. Northwest had rapidly built its A319 fleet from zero to 30 planes in less than two years. The rest of the Northwest Airbus fleet were A320 planes.
On April 3, 2003, Northwest introduced its first new aircraft paint scheme since 1989 at its Minneapolis/St. Paul, Detroit and Memphis hubs. The new livery was presented on three different aircraft types, an Airbus A319, a Boeing 747-400 and a Boeing 757-300.Northwest took delivery of its 71st—and last—A319 on December 12, 2003.
The narrow-body Airbus A319 and Airbus A320 were the backbone of Northwest's domestic fleet when the airline merged with Delta in 2008.
