1980
- April 27: NWA begins service to Ireland with Shannon – Boston and Shannon – New York nonstops. Further Scandinavian service also starts with a New York – Oslo, Norway – Stockholm, Sweden route.
- June 2: NWA launches nonstop service from the Twin Cities to London, England (Gatwick Airport), with the flight continuing to Hamburg, Germany.
- July 11: Northwest Flight 608 from Seattle to Portland experiences a hijacking with the assailant demanding money. The aircraft returns to Seattle where the aircraft is boarded by law enforcement and the man is subdued. All 64 aboard are safe.
- October 1: Republic Airlines pays $38.5 million to complete the acquisition of Hughes Airwest. The acquisition adds 53 cities to the Republic system, primarily in the western and southwestern U.S., making the airline a truly national carrier serving almost 200 cities — more than any other U.S. airline. Republic’s employee ranks swell from 8,982 to 14,709.
1981
- January 7: Northwest service begins between Manila and Taipei.
- April 26: Boston-London nonstops commence on Northwest.
- April 30: Northwest adds Guam to the network with nonstops to Tokyo and through service to Seoul.
- June 10: NWA begins (off and on) nonstops from the Twin Cities to Oslo, Norway.
- September 8: Nonstop Tokyo – Los Angeles service begins. NWA 747 freighters begin Tokyo – Los Angeles – Houston service.
- December 17: NWA starts nonstop service on the Minneapolis – Orlando fun run.
1982
- April 25: NWA adds Boston – Chicago O’Hare nonstops. NWA Cargo 747s start flying into San Francisco.
- May 19: Following the collapse of Braniff, Northwest adds service from the Twin Cities to Omaha, Kansas City, Wichita, and Dallas/Ft. Worth.
- July 1: Northwest starts Denver – Minneapolis nonstops in competition with Republic.
- July 25: Northwest adds service to San Diego as tag-ons to Los Angeles flights.
- August 1: NWA begins Twin Cities – Grand Rapids, Michigan – Detroit service.
- October 1: NWA Cargo adds stops in Atlanta and Oslo.
- December 16: Northwest continues to blanket Florida with new service to West Palm Beach.
1983
- January 9: Republic Flight 927, a Convair 580 inbound to Brainerd, Minnesota from the Twin Cities in dark, inclement weather, veers off the runway and strikes a snowbank, causing the right propeller to shear off and bounce back into the cabin. One passenger is killed.
- January 20: Northwest Flight 608 from Seattle to Portland experiences an attempted hijacking. The assailant brandishes a box which he claims is a bomb, and demands to be flown to Afghanistan. Upon arrival at Portland to refuel and engage in negotiations, Federal law enforcement enters the aircraft through the cockpit windows and confronts the hijacker. He throws the box at the agents, and is shot and killed. There are no explosives in the box.
- July 21: Northwest Flight 714, a Boeing 727 departing Tampa bound for Miami, experiences an attempted hijacking. Shortly after departure, a man with a knife threatens a flight attendant and demands to be flown to Cuba. He pulls the FA into a seat and sits next to her as the flight crew change course. Another quick-thinking flight attendant asks if the hijacker would like something to drink – he says yes and as refreshments are served, sets his knife down. Two nearby passengers attack and subdue the man; the plane lands safely in Miami and the hijacker is taken into custody.
- September 26: Steven G. Rothmeier is elected president and chief operating officer.
- December 15: NWA service expands to Tuscon, Arizona. San Francisco becomes the sixth U.S. gateway to Asia with non-stop service to Tokyo.
1984
- March 15: Chief Executive Officer M. Joseph Lapensky is elected chairman of the NWA board.
- April 30: Northwest opens service to Germany with a Twin Cities – Boston – Frankfurt flight.
- May 2: After a 35-year hiatus, Northwest resumes service to China with Seattle – Tokyo – Shanghai service.
- May 21: Northwest shareholders approve the creation of NWA Inc., a Delaware corporation, as the holding company for Northwest Airlines.
- June 8: NWA adds a nonstop between Minneapolis and Frankfurt. The red tail also flies from Phoenix to San Francisco and Seattle to provide connecting feed to Asian services.
- June 9: Dublin, Ireland is connected to Boston via Shannon, making Northwest the only U.S. airline to serve the capital.
- September 5: Northwest Cargo opens service to Singapore.
- December 1: Northwest and Mesaba Airlines announce a regional airlines marketing partnership – the first Northwest Airlink agreement.
- Passenger service expands to Frankfurt and Dublin.
- All-cargo 747 freighter service extends to Singapore.
1985
- January 1: Steven G. Rothmeier is named president and chief executive officer.
- March 15: Northwest adds Kuala Lampur, Malaysia to its network with Tokyo nonstops.
- Republic Express regional airlines service begins, feeding passengers into the Republic system at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Memphis.
- April 28: Simmons Airlines begins Republic Express service mainly from the Detroit hub, with some routes from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula also feeding the Twin Cities hub.
- April 28: Republic bolsters its hubs at Minneapolis/St. Paul, Detroit, and Memphis by launching mainline service to nine new destinations: Albany, Syracuse, White Plains, and JFK Airport in New York; Appleton, Wisconsin; Erie, Pennsylvania; Louisville, Kentucky; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Little Rock, Arkansas. Aircraft used on these new routes have been redeployed from Chicago- and Atlanta- focused point-to-point service that is no longer competitive in the face of United/American’s buildups at O’Hare and Eastern/Delta’s buildups at ATL.
- May 21: Northwest and America West sign an Airlink agreement: NW will place its flight numbers on select HP services connecting to transpacific nonstops.
- May 28: NWA Inc. purchases Mainline Travel, Inc. (MLT) of Minnetonka, Minn., an international tour operator.
- June 6: NWA begins Los Angeles – Seoul nonstops.
- July: Northwest begins an Airlink arrangement with Big Sky Airlines to bring smaller towns in Montana and North Dakota back under the red tail via connections at Billings and Bismarck.
- December: Northwest announces its order as the launch customer for the Boeing 747-400.
- December 23: NWA inks an Airlink agreement with Fischer Brothers Aviation to provide commuter connections at Detroit and Cleveland.
- Northwest adds its first Boeing 757 twin-jet.
- In its last year as an independent entity, Republic employs 15,100 people serving a national network with a fleet of 168 DC9’s, 727’s, 757’s and Convair 580’s.
1986
- January 23: Northwest announces an agreement with Republic Airlines for Northwest to acquire Republic for $884 million.
- August 12: Steven G. Rothmeier is elected chairman of the board and CEO; John F. Horn is named president and chief operating officer.
- October 1: Northwest completes the acquisition of Republic Airlines on NWA’s sixtieth birthday. Northwest’s work force expands overnight from fewer than 17,000 to more than 33,000. Northwest becomes the dominant hub airline at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Memphis.
- October 1: Northwest announces a groundbreaking order for Airbus A320-200 jetliners, with 10 firm commitments and 90 options, with deliveries to begin in 1989. The quiet, advanced technology airplane will deliver 50% lower fuel consumption per seat than its 727-200s. NWA will eventually operate the world’s largest fleet of A320s.
- October 14: Northwest Aerospace Training Corporation (NATCO) is formed.
1987
- March 4: Northwest Airlink Flight 2268, a CASA-212 turboprop operated by Fischer Brothers Aviation inbound from Cleveland, crashes on approach to Detroit Metropolitan Airport. 9 of the 19 passengers and crew aboard are killed.
- April 17: Detroit-Tokyo nonstop service begins.
- August 16: Flight 255, departing Detroit and bound for Phoenix, operated by an MD-82, crashes after takeoff, killing 6 crew and 148 out of 149 passengers, as well as 2 people on the ground. Investigation reveals flaps and slats were not properly extended for takeoff. Northwest and Delta have both retired this flight number.
1988
- April 23: Northwest bans smoking on all North American flights, the first major U.S. airline to do so.
- June 21: Northwest begins a test of Airvision, the first airborne video system to offer passengers six channels of video programming via tiny personal seatback screens.
- August 8: Simmons Airlines is acquired by AMR Corporation, the parent of American Airlines, in order to build up the American Eagle commuter network. Northwest terminates the Simmons franchise for Airlink services.
- August 9: Mesaba Aviation is selected as an Airlink carrier serving the Detroit hub, in addition to existing services from Minneapolis/St. Paul.
- September 21: Northwest Flight Operations begins tests of the new Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS).
- December 15: Northwest and Seattle-based Horizon Air announce a marketing agreement to coordinate flight schedules and offer code-share service in the Pacific Northwest.
- New destinations this year include Amsterdam, Worcester, Mass., Norfolk, Va., and Harrisburg, Penn.
1989
- January 8: Mesaba begins Airlink service to Traverse City, Flint, and Pellston, Michigan
- January 31: The world’s largest commercial airliner, the Boeing 747-400, enters commercial service. Northwest is the launch customer. Although the plane is destined primarily for trans-Pacific service, the maiden revenue flight is from the Twin Cities to Phoenix.
- February 22: Mesaba begins Airlink service to Marquette and Houghton, Michigan.
- April 19: Mesaba dedicates its new maintenance hangar and corporate offices in Minneapolis/St. Paul.
- April 21: Mesaba purchases an aircraft maintenance facility at Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee (Wausau/Stevens Point), Wisconsin. The 38,000 square-foot structure was formerly owned by defunct Midstate Airlines.
- June 1: The 747-400 enters international service on the New York-Tokyo route.
- June 8: Northwest receives its first high-technology Airbus A320. Initial revenue service takes place on July 1st. Northwest is the first airline to operate the A320 in North America.
- June 19: NWA, Inc. and Wings Holdings agree to the acquisition of NWA Inc. by Wings at a price of $121 per share, or approximately $3.5 billion. Wings Holdings is an investment group organized by Al Checchi and Gary Wilson, and including KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Frederic V. Malek, Richard Blum Associates, Bankers Trust New York Corporation and other investors.
- August 4: The acquisition is completed and NWA Inc. becomes a privately-held corporation for the first time since 1941.
- September 28: Al Checchi becomes chairman of NWA Inc.; Fred Malek is named president.
- October 11: Mesaba begins Airlink service to Muskegon, Michigan.
- Service expands to Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Saipan in the Mariana Islands.
Timeline Navigation
Click on the links below or use the top navigation to read through the Northwest Family history, decade by decade:
