Tag: Detroit

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.

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.

DTW WorldGateway 20th Anniversary

As American, United, Eastern, USAir, and Delta started drawing down their point-to-point networks in the mid-1980s to instead amplify their respective hubs, longer-range domestic opportunities out of Detroit opened for Republic and Northwest – such as nonstops to Los Angeles and San Francisco, and more service to Florida. This worked in reverse as well – Republic’s drawdown from Chicago sent regional traffic into DTW so that a passenger from Traverse City or Green Bay could stay on RC metal for an entire trip instead of having to interline. Commuter services were added mid-decade through Republic Express (operated by Simmons) and Northwest Airlink (operated by Fischer Bros. Aviation) to the rapidly-expanding dual hub.

Predictably, to those who served or flew through DTW’s 1980s Berry, Davey, and Smith terminals, the extra business overwhelmed its stubby concourses. Too-narrow hallways built for origin-destination traffic were clogged by transfer passengers, too-few shopping and dining options left customers frustrated, and lack of gate and ramp space led to ground congestion and flight delays.

The 1986 Republic-Northwest merger allowed for some smoothing out of operations to better balance loads and eliminating redundant commuter flights, but this could not solve the fundamental airport layout problems and would impede NWA’s ambition to build an intercontinental connecting hub with its new Boeing 747-400 fleet. Clearly, a new terminal was necessary.

It took ten years to complete the planning and permitting to finally kick off in 1996 the building of what was at that time called the Midfield Terminal. New runways and ramps, access roads and interchanges would be constructed over the next five years while the ground was leveled, foundations laid, and framework slowly assembled for a mile-long, two concourse complex.

Delays in airport construction are unsurprising, and the planned Fall 2001 opening window also had the misfortune to coincide with the September 11 tragedy. Thankfully the terminal was able to smoothly adapt to new security processes and the usual systems testing went smoothly. The Edward H. McNamara Terminal – Northwest’s WorldGateway – opened to customers February 24, 2002 to high praise and much relief.

Shot of the A gates before operations began, from the NWA 2001 Annual Report.
Detail from a carry-on bag distributed during opening celebrations.
Photo from Wayne County Airport Authority / Vito Palmisano
Close-up of the signature fountain, from the NWA 2001 Annual Report.

While the B/C gates would not be fully built out for several more years, the entire NWA operation including Airlink services was easily accommodated in the new complex. The integration of international ‘flex’ gates with domestic operations gave Northwest a clear, sustained advantage for passengers connecting to or from overseas flights – in contrast to the (still!) frustrating separate-terminal arrangement at Chicago O’Hare.

Twin-jetbridge loading and ample ramp space made widebody jet operations efficient and allowed for new aircraft with broader wingspans to dock should the need arise. The gate layout also considered NWA’s important cargo operations for easy container staging and movement. Today’s Airbus A350-900s are comfortably serviced thanks to decisions made in the mid-1990s.

Click this image to open the full WorldGateway intro brochure

The ample gaterooms and wide hallway with moving walkways along the spine of the A concourse, and distributed food and shopping options at the ends and center of the spine, helped with crowd management. And to keep short connecting times possible, the speedy upper-level Express Tram railway tied the whole concourse together. Overnight, the impression of Northwest’s connecting operation went from a cramped bus terminal to a roomy space station!

Large-scale model of the Express Tram carriage, on display at the NWAHC museum.
Express Tram shortly after the merger with Delta – the trainset retains its Northwest red, but the logo on its snout has been removed. Scott Norris photo.
Photo from Wayne County Airport Authority / Vito Palmisano

With plenty of space to sit, several play rooms for kids, the fascinating choreography of the fountain and light show sequence in the B/C access tunnel, flying through Detroit became something to look forward to – and helped Northwest attract more traffic as the world recovered after 9/11.

Entrance to the tunnel to B/C concourses. Scott Norris photo.
2003 shot looking over Concourse A by Dmitry Avdeev, showing a mix of “Bowling Shoe” and “Silver Bullet” liveries. Photo via Wikimedia Commons, CC 3.0 license.
-51 series N782NC pulling in at DTW. Credit Detroit Metro Airport.

The WorldGateway allowed the DTW hub to bloom with new service and connections, becoming the leading gateway to Asia from the eastern USA, and an important trans-Atlantic gateway from the central states – five-per-day frequencies to Amsterdam were common even in the mid-2000s.

2005 overflight shot by Aaron Headly shows work underway to complete the C gates and a respectable count of 747-400s and A330s using the central A stands. Note how much taxi space is built to allow an A330 to easily pass other parked jumbos. Photo via Wikimedia Commons, CC 2.0 license.
Photo from Wayne County Airport Authority / Vito Palmisano
Another map brochure – click to open the PDF

DTW’s efficiency, flexibility, and high capacity made it an important asset in the Northwest-Delta merger and allowed DL to draw down its historic but multiple-terminal Cincinnati hub. As we celebrate 20 years of operations, we also celebrate the design choices NWA drove that will make this terminal well-used and well-appreciated for many decades to come.

2008 panorama by Japanese photographer “Traveler100” really demonstrates how long Concourse A is! Photo via Wikimedia Commons, CC 4.0 license.
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