As the merger with Republic moved from secret discussion to public announcement, Northwest management had more than one big decision to make about the future of the company, and fleet planning was one of the most critical. Pre-merger Northwest had too many large aircraft flying sectors too short to justify the capacity: ordering 757s to replace 727-200s and some DC-10s was a start, but left smaller stations in a bind. Republic didn’t contribute enough long-range, 150-seat craft to meet demand. And the entire blended fleet (except the 757s and 747-400s) had fuel-thirsty engines at a time when oil prices were about to explode. All the different fleet types made for inconsistent passenger experience and drove higher maintenance spares and training costs, as well.
And based on Republic’s success at stimulating traffic with its three-hub Heartland Strategy, Northwest anticipated even more aircraft would be necessary than the combined carrier would have on hand.
Northwest needed a bold strategy to standardize and simplify its fleet, with an aircraft of moderate capacity yet having enough range to efficiently handle transcontinental nonstops as well as short-haul regional sectors.
Boeing was selling its 130-seat 737-300 in huge numbers and was offering a stretched 150-seat 737-400 to complement it. But the delivery window was long and the aircraft (especially the -400) had range issues. These may not have been deal-breakers, but Boeing also was not interested in offering the pricing Northwest was looking for.
John Leahy, sales head at Airbus, paid a call to Minneapolis. The A320 was still under development but was showing promising fuel efficiency and performance figures, and at that time only Pan Am had placed orders for it in North America. Leahy offered what he called an “irresistible buy small, think big” offer: the unit pricing of an order for 100 jets, but NWA would only have to commit to take 10. With delivery slots in only two years. If Northwest didn’t like them, he said, “That’s it. You’re stuck with 10. We’ll take the risk on the rest of them.”
The airplane was everything Northwest wanted, handing everything from Detroit-Grand Rapids to Minneapolis-Caribbean runs, and even as far afield as Tokyo-Taiwan. It fit the space perfectly between the 757 and the DC-9 and there were enough of them to gain cost advantages in sourcing and maintenance. While the Gulf War put a crimp in expansion, NWA would eventually take 80 A320s and a similar number of its smaller sister A319s.
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