Author: Scott Norris

HELP WANTED: seeking to double the size of our Board of Directors

We are facing two urgent volunteer staffing needs to ensure our museum can continue operating and being open to the public:

  1. A treasurer / bookkeeper: our current director and his wife are sailing the Intracoastal Waterway for a year + at the end of February. We use Quickbooks for accounting, and manage about $150,000 of assets at present. As our fundraising goals and expertise grow, careful investment and accurate tax reporting for our nonprofit is vital. 
  2. A museum manager / volunteer coordinator for scheduling, training, and recruiting docents, being a contact for group visits, and interacting with the Crowne Plaza for maintenance and events. Being on-site is not necessary, but one should be able to swing by the museum to check in with staff or handle issues and projects on occasion.

Additionally, both to spread out responsibilities and also to tap into broader skill sets and personal networks, growing our Board from its current 7 to ultimately 15 members in 2025-2026 is a necessity. 

Beyond the two functions listed above, key areas of know-how and enthusiasm our organization needs include:

  • Collaborating with Twin Cities K-12 school districts and nearby colleges to use our archives and history to develop curriculum & materials for STEM and social studies subjects.
  • Organizing community-building and fundraising events such as panel discussions, themed parties, movie nights, seasonal surplus sales, and behind-the-scenes tours.
  • Building relationships with Minnesota aerospace companies to better communicate their future workforce needs, educational objectives, obtain their technical assistance & material donations, and advocate for our growth.
  • Meet with local governments, the Metropolitan Airports Commission, state agencies, community groups, and other nonprofits to build interest and support (both moral and financial) for our mission.
  • Find and apply for grants for specific projects and staffing.

We invite you to contact northwestairlines @ comcast. net if you are interested in joining our Board in any of these or other capacities that match your talents and experience.

New Pages for Northwest Cargo

Freight was always a key revenue source for NWA, and during World War II the company gained invaluable experience with dedicated cargo operations. Military lift contracts and charter flights contributed steady revenue, and from the mid 1960s Northwest ran its own scheduled freighter network. We have launched two resource pages to help enthusiasts and researchers better study this important part of the company:

First is a collection of cargo schedules – grids from passenger timetables as well as standalone publications, starting with the first published grid from October 5, 1964, and going all the way to the end of 2008. As our general timetable scanning project continues, this page will also keep growing.

Then we also have a library of route maps we have created based on the timetable data, again running from 1964 to 2008 with the aim for at least one map per year.

As more Cargo-related documents and stories come together, we intend to create a “discovery page” to thread the Museum’s materials together for easy reading and linking. If you worked with the Cargo division and have unique materials to share, please get in touch!

Navigating the Crowne Plaza AiRE Hotel to reach our museum

The NWAHC Museum is located on the hotel’s third floor, above the pool area. For patrons able to climb stairs, there are two straightforward ways to access our facility:

From the Parking Ramp:

Park on the top level of the ramp and access the building through the marked entrance. Doors are open and unlocked during normal business hours.

Proceed past the pool overlook, and note a staircase going up on your right.

This staircase gives access to the third floor. Take either the ramp or the short flight of stairs through the double-doors toward the exercise area and our museum. This area also includes some large airliner-themed artwork.

From the Front Desk:

If dropped off at the hotel’s ground floor entrance, proceed left past the check-in desk to the main staircase and head up to the second floor.

There are display cases set up by our Museum as well as other large-format artworks on this floor celebrating commercial aviation and the history of MSP Airport – worth taking a moment to appreciate!

Proceed to the right along this promenade into the Second Floor main hallway, and walk until you come upon the pool area.

On your left you’ll see that upward staircase to take you to the third floor.

For Patrons with Mobility Concerns:

For patrons with mobility concerns, access to the elevators to reach the 3rd floor so as to avoid stairs is controlled by the hotel’s front desk for guests’ and residents’ security. Museum staff are not able to operate the elevators. The hotel’s front desk telephone is (952) 854-9000 if staff are not on hand to assist.

The elevator bank is located to the right of the check-in desk on the main floor. Hotel staff must need to accompany you to the elevator and use their keycard to give access to the third floor.

From the third floor elevator bay, turn left into the main hallway and travel to its end. The security door there opens onto a ramp going up to the foyer where our museum and the exercise room are located.

When departing, museum staff can key fob you back into the third floor where you can access the elevator back down to the check-in desk area on the ground floor. Access to any other floor is not allowed.

There are no elevators from the second-floor pool area up to the third floor where our museum is located.

1957 Airventure Guide to Hawaii

An abnormally warm winter this year in Minnesota has had the state’s inhabitants thinking of springtime two months early, and among the places Minnesotans have loved to visit on Spring Break, the islands of Hawaii have been a long time favorite. And NWA was taking Northlanders all the way there since the end of 1948:

Center fold illustration from Northwest’s December 1, 1948 system timetable.

Initial services started with just three weekly roundtrips using Douglas DC-4 equipment, but NWA would route the double-deck Boeing 377 Stratocruiser to Honolulu in the early 1950s, and the Douglas DC-6 in the late 1950s.

Northwest had already applied for Tokyo – Honolulu – Los Angeles route authority in the late 1940s, but it would take another twenty years for that dream to be realized.

We recently picked up this little gem of a brochure at an antique show, enticed by the images of its cover and back. The 46 pages inside are excerpted from the hotel guest magazine Here’s Hawaii, from the Tongg Publishing Company of Honolulu, with a copyright date of 1957. Subsequently we have seen a similar publication with a Pan Am cover, so it looks like Tongg Publishing ran custom runs of the same basic information.

Inside, there are segments for each of the main islands talking about what to see and do, where to eat and stay, and how to get around, with the most pages dedicated to Oahu. The resort destinations of Kona on the Big Island, and Wailea and Ka’anapali on Maui, were not even conceived of when this guide was published – and even on Oahu, most of the hotels and restaurants famous since the Jet Age had not yet been constructed. So the booklet is a window in time back before statehood and the Elvis films brought truly mass-tourism to the Islands, so hard to see today without getting well away from the main cities and beaches.

Read the full brochure for yourself at https://northwestairlineshistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Brochure-NWA_Airventure-Guide-to-Hawaii_1957.pdf

Aloha!

Track those aircraft! 100 editions of fleet lists now online

A recent generous donation has netted the Museum 19 new fleet list issues we did not previously have in the collection. These have just been digitized and posted to our Fleet Lists page, bringing us up to 100 editions!

The break-out of issues by decade right now is:

  • 2000s 34 entries
  • 1990s 34 entries
  • 1980s 5 entries
  • 1970s 2 entries
  • 1960s 25 entries

So we are missing very few issues in the ’90s and ’00s -specific issues from those decades we are still looking for are:

  • 2007 – April
  • 2006 – January and April
  • 2005 – October
  • 2003 – October
  • 2000 – July
  • 1998 – January, April, and October
  • 1992 – September
  • 1991 – December
  • 1989 – December

We are really short in the 1980s and 1970s – with only one Republic-issued list, and no official lists from North Central, Southern, or Hughes Airwest.

And of course, while Captain James Borden kept his NWA lists from the 1960s, we really hope to uncover similar documents from all the other predecessor carriers. Als0 – outside of the 2009-2010 entries, we do not have lists from the Airlink / Express carriers – these would be of high interest to aviation fans and researchers!

Our collection depends on contributions from friends and families – if you’re going through your basements or attics, please keep an eye open for company documents! And when you have materials to contribute, please contact our collections manager at bruce.kitt@northwestairlineshistory.org.

REFLECTIONS Extra – Patricia Moran and the Crash of NWA Flight 293

Following up from our article in the June 2023 REFLECTIONS relating the memorial dedication in Washington State for those lost on NW293 in the North Pacific on June 3, 1963, we present additional photos:

Greg Barrowman, who was the driving force to establish a memorial, gives remarks at the Flight 293 dedication on June 3, 2023 at the Tahoma National Cemetery. Photo by Bruce Kitt of the NWAHC.
Retired Northwest F/A Darlene Jevne gives remarks at the Flight 293 dedication on June 3, 2023 at the Tahoma National Cemetery. Photo by Bruce Kitt of the NWAHC.
Honor flyover during the memorial dedication. Photo by Bruce Kitt of the NWAHC.
The memorial plaque joins others on the grounds of the Tahoma National Cemetery. Photo by Bruce Kitt of the NWAHC.
The memorial plaque joins others on the grounds of the Tahoma National Cemetery. Photo by Bruce Kitt of the NWAHC.
Detail on the memorial plaque. Photo by Bruce Kitt of the NWAHC.

Conversations at the Museum brought up the memory of one of those who perished, Patricia Moran, who had been a flight attendant at North Central from 1955-1957, left to complete her degree in early childhood education at the University of Minnesota, and hired on at Northwest right after graduation in 1959. The sky was her home, and she even wrote a book of poetry with aviation themes, “Come Fly With Me,” published in 1962.

Pat Moran with James Wonsettler, a US Navy pilot, whom she married in March 1963. This would have disqualified her from flying with Northwest, if the company had known. Their family also knew that Pat was two months pregnant at the time of the crash – sadness compounded.

Our Museum’s first editor, Anne Kerr, had collected stories about Pat Moran, and published them in her “Lady Skywriter” blog ten years ago:

http://blog.ladyskywriter.com/2013/03/remembering-patricia-moran.html

http://blog.ladyskywriter.com/2013/03/pat-moran-follow-up.html

http://blog.ladyskywriter.com/2013/04/the-patricia-moran-chronicles-part-3.html

http://blog.ladyskywriter.com/2013/04/patricia-moran-chronicles-conclusion.html

Pat would not have been on that flight if the rules had been followed – not all stories about a love of flight end up as happy ones.

Clipping from the Minneapolis Morning Tribune, June 5, 1963.

Maps of Northwest’s Boeing 747 routes over the years

Northwest’s first 747 routes in 1970 allowed for plenty of resting time at MSP, but covered the key trunk routes that would define the carrier’s strategy for the next 15 years.
By the mid-1970s, passenger 747s had effectively displaced the 707-320 fleet, and new all-cargo ships (noted in dashed lines) made Northwest the most important air-cargo player over the North Pacific well into the 1980s.
While the new Atlantic routes were of course an entirely new line of business for Northwest, the better range of the -200 series was just being tested on NWA’s first “hub bypass” routes past Tokyo to Seoul and Osaka.
Both passenger and cargo routes have experienced steady growth in the early 1980s. The Atlantic network has stabilized and a Seoul mini-hub is starting to form.
Post-merger Northwest is adding trans-Pacific routes at a steady pace, while the Atlantic side has slimmed down and largely transitioned to DC-10 equipment. Los Angeles has 747 nonstops to Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, and Taipei, and the Seoul hub is starting to approach Narita’s size. The first routes from Detroit give a hint of that hub’s potential.
The brief and incredible foray to Australia in 1992 is well-illustrated here – while California is an expected gateway, NWA’s most audacious and controversial route is the real star of this map: New York JFK – Osaka Itami – Sydney. No other airline had tried this routing and the Japanese government was not happy with NWA’s reading of air service treaties. But without connecting feed at either end this was fated to be a brief experiment.
By the mid-1990s the Seoul hub had been abandoned, but Detroit was spinning up with long-range nonstops to Asia, and the first 747s to the KLM hub at Amsterdam demonstrated how much traffic the new alliance could generate.
The pre-9/11 map of 747 services shows how well NWA had tuned its operation to flow massive amounts of traffic through its key hubs. While Airbus equipment was starting to fill in on lower-density services, this is the 747’s high point.
The post-9/11 environment and ramp-up of A330 equipment, plus the growing realization that Tokyo’s value as a premium traffic hub had waned, put the writing on the wall for the 747 even before Northwest’s bankruptcy and eventual merger with Delta. While Northwest Cargo continued to pull in steady business and operate reliably, its aging 747-200Fs were going to need to be replaced – and it was facing much heavier competition from dedicated cargo lines like Polar, UPS, and FedEx, as well as much stronger Asian competitors. After the merger had been executed, NWA Cargo was terminated and its fleet retired. Delta would radically redeploy the remaining 747-400 frames with heavy rotation out of Atlanta and JFK in addition to Detroit. Asian service would increasingly bypass Narita in favor of alliances with Korean Air and China Eastern. Delta’s 767-300 and 777-200 craft were initially better suited for Pacific service, and were able to completely replace the 747-400 before the pandemic.
Last holdouts for the Queen of the Skies under the Red Tail.

An invitation to join our Board of Directors

Over 2023-2024 we intend to roughly double the size of our volunteer Board to fifteen members, as we dig into the work of business planning and making our case to government agencies, potential donors and partners, and the community at large to help us site and construct an exciting new facility in the middle part of this decade. Airline work experience is not necessary! And in fact, we are seeking a broad range of backgrounds, as we aim to serve an even broader range of visitors and students.

Click here to read the full-size PDF of our recruitment flyer! If you know of someone who might be interested in joining our team, pass this post along – and if that someone is you, please drop us an email at 4info@accessphilanthropy.com!

REFLECTIONS Extra – Photos of NWA’s final DC-10 departure

Photos and documents from Flight 98’s departure from Honolulu on January 7, 2007, contributed by “thezipper” from his archive on Flickr. As an enthusiast and moderator of the NWA board on FlyerTalk forums in the past decade, he flew a number of inaugural and final flights on NWA. These photos are reproduced with his permission.

Honolulu farewell to the DC-10
Taxiing up to the gate along the main terminal
Honolulu farewell to the DC-10
The famous 1970s aesthetic and equipment at Honolulu was on full display at the gate
Honolulu farewell to the DC-10
There was cake!
Honolulu farewell to the DC-10
This flight shows that not all DC-10 frames were painted in the final livery. Many consider the “Bowling Shoe” arrangement one of the most handsome to grace the Ten.
Honolulu farewell to the DC-10
One last message from the Honolulu base on the jetway
Honolulu farewell to the DC-10
Commemorative card handed out to all passengers with the crew’s signatures
Capt. Stewart also signed certificates for enthusiasts

REFLECTIONS Extra – DC-10 route history

Supplementing our illustrations in the September 2022 REFLECTIONS, here is a broader assortment of maps showing where Northwest flew its DC-10 fleet between its introduction at the beginning of 1973 until its retirement in early 2007. All these maps are copyright Northwest Airlines History Center / Scott Norris.

Northwest DC-10 network from the February 1, 1973 System Timetable. This was light duty for crew and ground training while the fleet built strength.
Northwest DC-10 network from the October 28, 1973 System Timetable. In just a few months much of the initial fleet was already in service. The first of several intended trans-Pacific routes had begun, but range issues required stops at Anchorage. This would be the extent of NWA’s DC-10 flying to Asia until three decades later…
Northwest DC-10 network from the June 1, 1974 System Timetable. Yes, you could fly a Ten on the Milwaukee – O’Hare run!
Northwest DC-10 network from the June 1, 1976 System Timetable. Hawaiian flying was certainly in the Series 40’s comfortable range, and the stations and routes described on this map would be essentially the same for the rest of the 1970s.
Northwest DC-10 network from the October 28, 1979 System Timetable. NWA was bringing muscle to its Seattle/Tacoma operation post-Deregulation with transcontinental service to Dulles and Boston, regional connections to LAX and SFO, and opening Fairbanks in Alaska. But – strikes at NW and in the control tower would take the puff out of this swagger…
Northwest DC-10 network from the April 24, 1983 System Timetable. Post-Deregulation service patterns and a de-emphasis on Chicago-Great Lakes -East Coast flying allowed the Tens to reinforce the MSP and SEA operations. Note the pullout from smaller stations like Great Falls and Billings to open up bigger markets like Phoenix and San Diego. And the type had returned to Honolulu, a station which NWA would never stop serving with the DC-10 until its retirement.
Northwest DC-10 network from the June 5, 1986 System Timetable. Retrenchment to core routes from Minneapolis in the lead-up to the Republic merger.
Northwest DC-10 network from the May 2, 1988 System Timetable. 757-200s and the 727-200s from the Republic merger had assumed many domestic DC-10 routes, trading capacity per departure for extra frequency of departures on the trunk services. This let NWA stretch the Ten’s wings across the Atlantic from the Boston focus city.
Northwest DC-10 network from the May 1, 1993 System Timetable. Nonstops from Detroit into Europe are starting to take shape, and the Ten is used to open new route authorities from Honolulu across the Pacific.
Northwest DC-10 network from the September 10, 1996 System Timetable. The Ten features heavily on Japan sun-destination rotations, while Boston’s trans-Atlantic presence is cut to just the Amsterdam hub.
Northwest DC-10 network from the September 1, 2001 System Timetable. This is a good example of how NWA and KLM cooperated at the Amsterdam hub – the Red Tail would reach India but also open up nonstops to places like Miami and Washington Dulles. The Atlantic routes from Boston shifted to the Detroit hub as that airport’s WorldGateway made international connections very convenient. Series 30 airframes brought on and their better range even allowed for Pacific flying – here we see the last of the short-lived Osaka Kansai hub.
Northwest DC-10 network from the May 1, 2004 System Timetable. As the Ten fleet was being replaced by A330-300, A330-200, 757-300, and wingletted 757-200s, its reach was truly worldwide, from India all the way around to Singapore.
Northwest DC-10 network from the May 2, 2006 System Timetable. With only a handful of frames left in service, enthusiasts made sure to get their last pictures taken and miles logged on the type.
Northwest DC-10 network from the January 3, 2007 System Timetable. The type’s final flight left Honolulu January 7, 2007 arriving Minneapolis/St. Paul the morning of the 8th. This would be the last service with a DC-10 by a major passenger network carrier (Biman Bangladesh would fly the last flight in 2014.) FedEx still has a handful of updated MD-10s in freight service but these will be soon retired.

Transpacific 75th Anniversary – WorldTraveler June 1997 article

Click on image to open the full scanned PDF magazine article

NWA’s celebration of its 50th anniversary across the Pacific was most visibly highlighted by the special 747-400 WorldPlane livery

https://northwestairlineshistory.org/2019/03/18/reflections-extra-worldplane-article-in-worldtraveler

https://northwestairlineshistory.org/2019/07/22/reflections-extra-even-more-worldplane-photos/

In the June 1997 issue of WorldTraveler magazine, a timeline and photo essay was included in addition to the WorldPlane feature – click on the image above to read the full piece.

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