Northwest Airlines, the world's fifth largest airline, operates hubs in Amsterdam, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis, and Tokyo; as well as focus cities in Milwaukee and Indianapolis. Northwest Airlines and Northwest Airlink operate a fleet of over 600 aircraft including the Boeing 747-400, the world's second largest passenger airliner. Northwest Airlines and its partners fly to more than 900 cities, in more than 160 countries, on six continents.

History

Northwest Airlines (or Northwest Airways as it was known then) was started in 1926. They were based in Minneapolis and flew mail to a number of cities including Chicago, Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Madison.

Northwest Airways changed their name to Northwest Airlines but promoted themselves as "Northwest Orient" until 1986 to emphasize their strong presence in Asia. That strong presence in Asia continues today, as they are the second largest airline in Japan.

In 1985, Northwest Orient announced a merger with another Minneapolis based airline, Republic Airlines. After the merger with Republic, Northwest began operating the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and MD-82 as well as more Boeing 727s. Republic's 757 fleet was sold to America West Airlines as its engines were not compatible with Northwest's 757s. Northwest also gained a hub in Memphis.

Northwest fell into financial trouble not long with the merger with Republic. They were taken over by Wings Holdings, a group headed by the Minneapolis investor, John Dasburg. One of the first moves Dasburg made was creating the world’s first airline alliance with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

1995 was the year of Northwest's Initial Public Offering (IPO). The stock symbol they chose was NWAC (now NWACQ). In 2001, John Dasburg left the company to become the CEO of Burger King. The company’s CFO, Richard Anderson, took over the controls.

On April 3, 2003, Northwest revealed their brilliant new livery. On the fuselage, the initials "NWA" are large, with "Northwest Airlines" written smaller below. On the tail, is half of the Northwest compass logo.

In September 2004, Northwest joined the Skyteam alliance along with partner airlines Continental and KLM. In October 2004, Richard Anderson left the company to become the CEO of United Health Group. The president of Northwest Airlines Corporation, Doug Steenland, chose to take the position of CEO.