Northwest Airlines Corp. (often abbreviated as NWA) was a major United States airline, headquartered in Eagan, Minnesota near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Northwest Airlines was founded on September 1, 1926, by Colonel Lewis Brittin, under the name Northwest Airways, a reference to the historical name for the Midwestern United States that derived from the Northwest Territory. Like other early airlines, Northwest's focus was not in hauling passengers, but in flying mail for the U.S. Post Office Department. Northwest Airways began carrying passengers in 1927. It adopted the name of Northwest Airlines in 1934 as a result of the Air Mail scandal (political scandal resulting from a congressional investigation of the awarding of contracts to certain airlines to carry airmail and to the use of the U.S. Army Air Corps to fly the mail by the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt). On October 1, 1986, Northwest merged with Republic Airlines, also based in Minneapolis-St. Paul. On October 29, 2008, the merger of Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines was approved, forming the world's largest airline. The combined airline uses the Delta name and branding.
Regional flights for Northwest were operated under the name Northwest Airlink by Mesaba Airlines, Pinnacle Airlines, and Compass Airlines.
Livery from 1986
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40, registration N141US, built 1972, serial number 46750 Schiphol (AMS), Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 31 July 1989
Livery from 1989 (Bowing Shoe)
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40, registration N146US, built 1972, serial number 46755 Schiphol (AMS), Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 12 July 1991
