2001
January 4: Completes year-long program of equipping its fleet of more than 400 aircraft with LIFEPAK® 500 automated external defibrillators (AED) and BiologTM 3000 electrocardiograph (ECG) monitors.
January 16: Northwest announces it will acquire 24 Airbus A330-300 aircraft, 20 Boeing Boeing 757-300 aircraft, two Boeing 747-400s and six A319s. Deliveries of the A330s will begin in 2003 and continue through 2006 deliveries of the B757s will begin in 2002 and continue through 2004 the A319s and B747s will be delivered in 2002.
January 22: Cargo division is incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary, Northwest Airlines Cargo Inc., doing business as "NWA Cargo."
February 13: The airline unveils its new 9,200-square-foot WorldClubs facility at Memphis-Shelby County International Airport, signifying the completion of more than $52 million in renovations completed at the airport in 2000.
February 19: Northwest's Board of Directors elects Richard H. Anderson to the position of chief executive officer, and Douglas M. Steenland to the position of president.
May 7: Northwest introduces several new self-service rebooking features for e-ticket customers using the Internet, wireless Internet, or self-service check-in products.
May 9: Northwest and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) ratify a tentative contract agreement.
May 10: Northwest announces it will suspend three Asia/Pacific routes at the end of September 2001 due to poor economic performance: Seattle-Osaka, Japan; Osaka-Kaohsiung, Taiwan; and Osaka-Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
May 29: Alliance partners Northwest and KLM complete the reconfiguration of their intercontinental fleets in the new World Business Class design. The new configuration features a 60-inch pitch (distance between seat rows) and up to 50 percent additional legroom, creating more personal space. The angle of recline was also increased to 150 degrees, enhancing relaxing and sleeping comfort.
June 14: Northwest withdraws its proposal to acquire the outstanding shares of Mesaba Holdings, Inc. not already owned by Northwest, and terminates further discussions with Mesaba regarding the proposed transaction. Northwest made the proposal for the stock purchase November 1, 2000.
June 21: Northwest and Air China will implement codeshare service connecting Northwest's hub in Memphis, Tenn., and 17 other U.S. cities with Beijing and Shanghai, China.
June 25: Northwest and Continental will open the first combined Northwest WorldClub and Continental Presidents Club to be jointly built and operated by Northwest and Continental. The new club features a new, upgraded design standard, which Northwest introduced at two new WorldClubs it opened at Minneapolis/St. Paul and Memphis late in 2000.
July 9: Northwest enters into an agreement with Bombardier Aerospace to acquire 75 forty-four seat Canadair Regional Jets (CRJ). Deliveries are expected to begin in mid-2002 and continue through 2005.
July 31: Northwest and Transavia Airlines will begin codeshare service between North America and popular destinations in southern Europe effective August 1, 2001. The two carriers initially announced partnership plans in March which also include frequent flyer plan benefits.
August 1: Northwest celebrates the opening of two new facilities at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. A 151,000 square foot aircraft maintenance building with 86,000 square feet of hangar floor, and a 55,000 square foot cargo facility were built to replace Northwest's existing buildings, which were located in an area designated for passenger terminal expansion.
August 2: Northwest takes delivery of the 100th Airbus aircraft into its fleet. The July 27 arrival of Northwest's 30th new A319 at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport marked the 100th Airbus addition to the airline's growing fleet. Northwest has rapidly built its A319 fleet from zero to thirty in less than two years. The airline plans to accept delivery of a total of 74 A319's by 2003.
August 9: Northwest and Alitalia reach a mutual agreement to discontinue their marketing relationship effective October 28, the start of the winter schedule. Cooperative activities have included codeshare service and reciprocal frequent flyer and airport lounge programs.
August 16: Northwest receives, for the second time, the 2001 CIO-100 award presented by IDG's CIO magazine. The award program recognizes organizations around the world that excel in positive business performance through innovative practices and products.
September 11: Northwest joins the nation in expressing deep sympathy and concern for the victims and their families involved in the tragic incidents in New York City, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. Northwest also announces that all flights are cancelled indefinitely. All domestic and international Northwest Airlines flights are accounted for and safe.
September 14: Northwest Airlines resumes limited commercial service.
September 15: Northwest will reduce its system-wide flight schedule by 20 percent as measured on an available seat mile basis. The carrier takes this action because of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States and the resulting reduction in passenger demand and new airport and airline security measures. The airline will implement the new schedule by October 1.
September 21: Northwest announces a reduction in staffing levels by approximately 10,000 employees. The carrier takes this action because of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States and the resulting reduction in passenger demand.
October 9: Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson and President Doug Steenland are elected to the Board of Directors for Northwest Airlines.
October 19: Northwest completes installation of new flight deck door security devices on its fleet of aircraft ahead of schedule. Northwest's mechanics completed the door enhancement program in 17 days.
November 5: Northwest unveils a new fare structure that reduces leisure fares year round and offers options to enjoy even greater savings of up to 50 percent. For its customers traveling under corporate travel contracts, Northwest introduced valuable discounts on flexible business-oriented airfares.
November 15: Northwest and Malév Hungarian Airlines signed a code-share and frequent flyer program agreement.
November 21: Northwest and Wayne County announced that the new Edward H. McNamara terminal and the Northwest WorldGateway at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport would open February 24, 2002.
November 29: Northwest reduced the amount of time it asks customers to arrive at airports to 75 minutes prior to departure for domestic flights. The change set advance arrival times to the lowest level in the company's history.
December 10: Northwest announced that it would begin daily service between its Tokyo, Japan hub and Pusan, South Korea and Kaohsiung, Taiwan effective April 18, 2002. Northwest will operate Airbus A320 aircraft on the new routes, which it would also begin using on its current daily service between Tokyo and Taipei, Taiwan.
December 18: Northwest launched "interline" electronic ticketing capabilities with United Airlines, making it possible for Northwest customers to use a single e-ticket on three of the nation's five largest airlines. Northwest has interline e-ticketing with United and Continental, and expects to offer interline e-tickets with all major carriers in 2002.
December 19: Northwest announced that it would provide dedicated airport security checkpoint lanes for the exclusive use of customers traveling World Business Class, domestic First Class, and to members of its WorldPerks frequent flier program who have achieved Platinum Elite or Gold Elite status. The carrier also announced that it was expanding its efforts to add security checkpoint capacity from the 25 lanes previously announced, to 30 new lanes.
2002
January 16: Northwest reported that it would continue to provide its customers with secure and convenient airport operations on Friday, January 18, the first day that all U.S. airlines were required to conduct 100 percent screening of passenger baggage in accordance with the federal Aviation and Transportation Security Act.
January 22: Northwest announced that it was eliminating blackout dates for WorldPerks award travel as part of an array of changes unveiled to enhance and simplify its frequent flier program, adding new program options and greater recognition of its customers' loyalty. With this announcement, Northwest's WorldPerks program is the U.S. airline industry's first mileage-based frequent flier program to eliminate blackout dates for award travel.
January 23: Northwest reported that it had checked in over 1 million customers via the Internet at its Web site.
January 25: Northwest said that consumers are the big winners from the decision of American Airlines and British Airways to not proceed with their application to the U.S. Department of Transportation for anti-trust immunity.
February 1: Northwest, Delta Air Lines and Continental filed a joint motion asking the U.S. Department of Transportation to dismiss immediately the antitrust immunity application filed by American Airlines/British Airways because, "the immediate prospects for an Open Skies agreement with the U.K. no longer exist."
February 5: Ground transportation will be as convenient as air travel at the Edward H. McNamara Terminal / Northwest WorldGateway thanks to a comprehensive ground transportation center, an 11,500-space parking garage - the largest built at one time in the world - and a pedestrian bridge connecting both to the new terminal.
February 5: Northwest celebrates the opening of its new WorldGateway facility, a Detroit terminal, by offering passengers 2,002 WorldPerks bonus miles on all round-trip flights from February 24, 2002 to March 31, 2002 that include stops in Detroit.
February 24: Northwest and Wayne County open the Edward H. McNamara Terminal/Northwest WorldGateway, setting a new standard for airport design by placing a premium on customer-friendly features. February 24 - The first flights arrive and depart from Northwest's new $1.2 billion WorldGateway airport terminal at Detroit. With the arrival and departure of the very first aircraft, Northwest ushered in a new standard in airport convenience, efficiency and comfort.
February 25: Northwest Airlines Corporation announce that a registration statement has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the initial public offering of its regional airline subsidiary, Express Airlines I, Inc., which will be renamed Pinnacle Airlines Corp. All of the shares are being offered by an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Northwest Airlines Corporation.
March 5: Northwest will restore its evening schedule of nonstop service from its Memphis hub in response to customer demand for flights later in the day. The flights will be offered as part of the airline's summer schedule beginning June 7, 2002. Approximately half of the additional flights will be operated by Northwest and the remainder by Northwest Airlink regional air carriers Mesaba and Express Airlines I.
March 7: Northwest expands the number of locations where it offers security checkpoint express lines from 6 to 19 airports nationwide. Northwest's express lines, which lead up to airport security checkpoints, are available to customers traveling in First Class, World Business Class or customers who have achieved either Platinum Elite or Gold Elite status in the airline's WorldPerks frequent flier program.
March 15: Panama City-based Copa Airlines joins the Northwest WorldPerks network of airline partners. The agreement opens the door to a new world of opportunity for Northwest's WorldPerks members to earn and redeem their frequent flier miles on Copa Airlines flights serving Latin America.
March 19: Northwest changed to its travel agent commission structure to eliminate the payment of "base" commissions to travel agents for tickets issued in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and applied to all tickets, Miscellaneous Charge Orders (MCO's) and pre-paid tickets.
April 1: Northwest provides business and leisure travelers with more flights on the popular Minneapolis/St. Paul - Chicago O'Hare route than any other airline. Northwest offers flights on the hour in each direction from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and an additional flight in each direction at 10 p.m. Northwest will offer 16 flights in each direction during the business week.
April 22: Northwest launched "interline" electronic ticketing capabilities with American Airlines, enabling Northwest customers to use a single e-ticket for travel on both carriers.
May 14: Northwest expanded the availability of its Biz Perks corporate rewards and incentive program to more small and medium-sized businesses, extended enrollment and support to travel agencies, and introduced a number of program enhancements.
May 16: Northwest announced changes to the telecommunications component of its WorldPerks Free Travel Program that provide members with new ways to earn miles and offer members an even wider variety of telecommunications service providers from which to choose.
May 17: Northwest's web site, nwa.com, was named "Best Airline Web Site" by OAG International at the publication's 20th annual awards ceremony. The winners were selected based on a survey of frequent business travelers who are customers of OAG.
June 5: Northwest launched CorpNet , a program that allows the airline and its corporate customers to transition to agreements based on the share of business they do with Northwest.
June 7: Northwest Airlines resumed its evening schedule of nonstop flights to 71 destinations from its Memphis hub.
June 24: Northwest announced an industry first - a new online self-service product that allows customers to make reservation changes and complete E-Ticket exchanges online at the airline's web site. This new functionality also includes fares purchased online.
August 5: Northwest successfully completed a $749 million secured aircraft bond financing in the public capital markets. The bonds sold in this financing were structured as enhanced equipment trust certificates ("EETC"). The bonds have a final maturity of up to 19 years and a combination of both fixed and floating interest rates, with an initial average weighted interest rate of 4.07%. Proceeds from the bond sale will be used by Northwest for the acquisition of 20 new aircraft, most of which are scheduled for delivery in 2003.
August 15: Northwest extended the time window that customers can check-in for a round trip flight via its website from 24 to 30 hours prior to a scheduled departure. NWA.com has also expanded its customer support to feature an online link where customers can ask questions of a Northwest Airlines service representative during the online check-in process.
August 21: Domestic usage of electronic tickets by Northwest customers reached an all-time high of 80% during July, as the airline continued its push toward phasing out paper tickets.
August 23: Northwest, Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines signed a cooperative marketing agreement. The agreement, when fully implemented, will connect the three carriers' domestic and international networks, and include code sharing, frequent flyer program reciprocity, and a reciprocal airport lounge program.
October 7: Northwest announced that it will launch an Internet site that will provide travel agents with features and services unmatched in the airline industry, including free and unrestricted access to the airline's Web fares, simplified reporting, complete online booking capabilities and more.
October 15: Northwest announced that it would close its Atlanta aircraft maintenance and engine facility, and its reservations center in Long Beach, California.
October 24: Northwest announced that it would add self-service check-in options at 102 of the airports it serves throughout the United States and Canada with the deployment of its "E-Service Center" self-service flight check-in devices.
October 28: Northwest was named "Best North American Airline" by the readers of TTG Asia and TTG China newspapers as part of the TTG Travel Awards 2002 program.
November 13: Northwest added another industry first to its self-service check-in products: Internet Check-In and E-Service Center airport kiosks by expanding self-service check-in to customers traveling with an electronic ticket from the United States and Canada to Europe and Asia, including connections through Tokyo's Narita Airport.
November 26: Northwest announced that a survey of thousands of readers of TIME Asia magazine ranked Northwest's WorldPerks program first among U.S. airline frequent flyer programs, and third overall.
December 2: Northwest will begin offering members of its WorldPerks frequent flier program new award redemption benefits on domestic flights operated by Japan Airlines (JAL), starting April 1, 2003.
December 10: Northwest launched "interline" electronic ticketing capabilities with Delta Air Lines, enabling Northwest customers to use a single e-ticket for travel on both carriers. The expansion also makes it possible for travelers to use a single electronic ticket when flying on any of the nation's five largest airlines - American, United, Delta and Continental Airlines.
December 12: Northwest filed a complaint in Ramsey County, Minnesota, District Court, against the Minneapolis/St. Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) for violating its statutory obligation to set charges for users at six regional reliever airports at levels high enough to cover the costs of those airports.
December 13: Northwest and its pilots, represented by the NWA unit of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), announced that an agreement has been reached enabling the airline to proceed with its marketing agreement with Delta Air Lines.
December 17: The convenience of the Northwest WorldGateway at Detroit was heightened further with the opening of The Westin Detroit Metropolitan Airport Hotel.
2003
January 7: Northwest Airlines retires the last aircraft of its Boeing 727 fleet from scheduled service when flight 560 arrived at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport from Denver at 9:38 a.m., CST.
March 21: Northwest announced it would reduce its systemwide flight schedule by approximately 12 percent, as measured on an available seat mile basis. The carrier took this action because of a drop in passenger demand due to the hostilities with Iraq. The carrier also announced it would remove 20 aircraft from service.
March 31: Northwest, Delta and Continental receive final U.S. regulatory approval for alliance.
April 3: Northwest introduced its first new aircraft paint scheme since 1989 at its Minneapolis/St. Paul, Detroit and Memphis hubs. The new livery was presented on three different aircraft types, a Boeing 747-400, a Boeing 757-300 and an Airbus A319.
May 7: Northwest announced that it had further expanded its comprehensive self-service program by extending its nwa.com check-in service. The service allows customers to obtain their boarding pass and check-in over the Internet, for travel originating in any of the 15 cities that Northwest serves on its Asia network.
May 12: Northwest announced that it would offer nonstop flights from Milwaukee to Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York (LaGuardia), Orlando, Fla., and Washington, D.C. (Reagan National) beginning July 1, 2003.
June 23: Delta and Northwest began placing their codes on each other's flights from Memphis, Tenn. and Salt Lake City June 21. Beginning July 2, Delta customers could purchase seats under the Delta code on Northwest-operated flights from New York (Kennedy), San Francisco and Seattle/Tacoma to Narita airport in Tokyo, Japan.
July 1: Northwest announced that it had sold its interest in Worldspan L.P. to Travel Transaction Processing Corporation, a corporation formed by Citigroup Venture Capital Equity Partners L.P. and Teachers' Merchant Bank of Canada to offer the Worldspan transaction.
July 14: Northwest announced that its customers had used either its Internet check-in service at nwa.com, or one of its 655 e-Service Center kiosks in 155 airports, a total of 30 million times. The milestone was reached during the first week of July.
August 6: Northwest unveiled its first Airbus A330 widebody aircraft. The A330 was the first entirely new aircraft type to join the airline's fleet in 14 years. The A330 also marked the debut of new seats in Northwest's World Business Class and coach class cabins, as well as a new in-flight entertainment system. Northwest also unveiled updates to its World Business Class meal service on trans-Atlantic flights.
August 26: Northwest launched a redesigned version of its Internet site, offering better site organization and ease of use, an improved layout and visual design, increased site efficiency and performance, streamlined paths to functionality, a more personalized experience and direct access to the information most important to users of the site.
August 26: Northwest completes its first scheduled flight of its new Airbus A330 widebody aircraft.
September 1: NWA Cargo, the cargo subsidiary of Northwest Airlines Corporation, enhanced the online tracking data it provides customers via its Cargo Portal Services (CPS) website.
September 5: Northwest announced that passengers may use cellular phones onboard Northwest aircraft after landing at U.S. airports. Cellular phones may now be used after the aircraft has left the active runway and is taxiing towards the airport gate.
September 15: Northwest reported that it made total contributions equivalent to $369 million to its contract employee, pilot and management pension plans. The contributions were funded with 11.4 million shares of common stock of its subsidiary, Pinnacle Airlines Corp., and $60 million in cash. Northwest also announced that it allocated the remaining 34 Canadair Regional Jets (CRJ) on firm order to Pinnacle Airlines. These regional jets are scheduled to be delivered through 2005. After these CRJs were delivered, Pinnacle operated a fleet of 129 regional jetliners.
September 24: Northwest announced plans to restructure the flight schedule at its Memphis, Tennessee hub, beginning January 6, 2004. The changes will allow for the continuation of nonstop service to all 78 of the cities Northwest and Northwest Airlink carriers currently serve from Memphis, its third largest domestic hub. The new schedule spreads the operations throughout the day with six mid-sized banks versus the four large banks of flights currently offered.
September 25: Northwest announced that it would close its Detroit area reservations center located in Livonia, Mich. in December 2003 because of decreased call volumes and changes in consumer purchasing habits.
October 1: Northwest launched new advertising highlighting the many strengths, products and services the airline offers today's smart business travelers. The print, television, Internet and outdoor advertisements showcase Northwest's cutting-edge customer service technology, worldwide scope, competitive fares, convenient and efficient airports, new aircraft and other improvements recently made, such as its new World Business Class seat. All of the advertisements end with the message, "now you're flying smart."
October 20: Northwest announced that its nwa.com Web site outperformed all other U.S. airline sites in the Summer 2003 Online Customer Respect Study of Airline, Travel and Hotel/Resort/Casino firms that rank among the largest 1,000 companies in the United States.
November 18: Northwest will resume daily nonstop service between Osaka, Japan and Honolulu. The flight, which was suspended on October 1, 2003, was offered on a seasonal basis from April 28, 2004.
November 20: Northwest expanded its coach cabin meals for sale program from 135 to 199 domestic flights, including flights from 14 new locations.
December 4: Northwest's WorldPerks frequent flyer program was named the world's most popular North American frequent flyer program by the readers of TIME Asia as part of the 2003 TIME Readers' Travel Choice Awards.
2004
January 7: Northwest Airlines announced it would offer daily nonstop service between Portland, Ore. and Tokyo, beginning June 10, 2004.
January 11: Mesaba Aviation, Inc. advised Northwest Airlines that it reached a tentative agreement with its pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), thus averting a strike.
January 23: Northwest Airlines Corporation, the parent of Northwest Airlines, announced a net loss of $129 million or $1.49 per common share for its fourth quarter, excluding unusual gains.
February 3: Northwest Airlines began offering customers the ability to stand by for earlier flights the same day through both its nwa.com check-in and airport kiosk self-service check-in options.
February 19: Northwest Airlines announced that it would close all of its remaining U.S. city ticket offices in late March.
March 1: Northwest announced changes to its WorldPerks frequent flyer program, which would benefit the program's best customers and make achieving Elite level qualification easier by giving additional credit for business fares.
March 31: Northwest marked the 25th anniversary of its first passenger flight to Europe by announcing that flights from Detroit to Paris will feature the airline's Airbus A330-300 aircraft.
April 8: Northwest Airlines expanded Spanish language services available to its customers. The airline introduced additional Spanish language content at its website and significantly increased the number of Spanish-speaking reservations agents at its U.S. reservations centers.
April 14: Northwest Airlines announced that it would expand its schedule from Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport for the third time in less than a year.
April 23: Northwest announced that its new nonstop service from Portland, Ore. to Tokyo would provide travelers from Portland and southwest Washington with the fastest service to Japan, as well as to several top business and leisure destinations in the Asia/Pacific region with single connections through the airline's improved Tokyo hub.
June 3: Added French language capabilities to website.
July 14: Northwest delays or cancels a number of outbound flights due to internal power failure affecting the use of its computer systems.
July 20: Announces major expansion of Indianapolis schedule that doubles the number of departures it offers by adding new nonstop service to Boston; Ft. Myers, Florida; Hartford, Connecticut; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; New York; Orlando, Florida; Philadelphia; Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina; and Washington, DC.
September 1: Northwest launches its first flight between U.S. West Coast and Tokyo with new Airbus A330-200 with departure of flight 5 from Portland, Oregon.
September 8: Announce plans to expand its fall and winter schedules from Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport by more than 10 percent with the addition of up to four flights.
September 13: Northwest, Continental and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines join SkyTeam as full members of one of the world's fastest growing airline alliances.
September 22: Begins offering new "Best Fare Guarantee" over the Internet for tickets purchased through its nwa.com Web site in the United States.
October 1: Doug Steenland, then Northwest's president, elected to additional position of chief executive officer.
October 20: Reports a third quarter net loss of $46 million or $0.54 per common share. This compares to the third quarter of 2003 when the airline reported a net profit of $42 million or $0.49 per diluted share.
October 25: NWA Cargo, the cargo subsidiary of Northwest Airlines, plans to expand its all-cargo freighter service between the United States and China as a result of the July bilateral agreement between the two nations.
November 1: Announces third expansion of its Indianapolis schedule in a year.
Announces new passenger service from Guangzhou, China to its Tokyo hub.
November 23: Announces successful completion of restructuring its $975 million revolving bank credit facility.
2008
October 29: Northwest merges with Delta, creating global airline with major passenger and cargo operations in every region of the world.
FAA approves integration of Delta and Northwest - Boeing and Aerospace News
2009
March 2009: All customer-facing employees begin wearing Delta uniforms, and all airport lounges renamed Delta Sky Clubs.
October 2009: Delta and Northwest loyalty programs merge into the world's largest frequent flyer program, Delta SkyMiles.
December 31: Federal Aviation Administration approves a single operating certificate for Delta and Northwest, allowing the airlines to begin fully integrating schedules, routes, airfare and reservation systems.
2010
January 18: Final airport, Philadelphia International Airport, rebranded from Northwest to Delta counters and kiosks.
January 31: Delta completes integration of the Northwest Airlines reservation system; retires Northwest flight numbers and nwa.com. Final regularly scheduled Northwest flight, NW2470, departed Los Angeles International Airport for Las Vegas, January 30 at 8:45 p.m. PT. On January 31 at 3 a.m., nwa.com began redirecting customers to delta.com.