Northwest Airlines Lockheed L-188 Electra
Northwest Airlines began life in September 1926 as Northwest Airways, headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and flying air mail. A year later, it expanded its service to include passenger routes, flying Hamilton H-47 biplanes. Due to the fallout from the Air Mail Scandal of the early 1930s, Northwest Airways changed its name to Northwest Airlines in 1934 to distance itself from its air mail beginnings. By that time, it had already moved its main base of operations to Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, and was operating a comparatively large route network through the upper Midwest. Due to this experience, Northwest got the coveted route from New York to Seattle, making the airline one of the few transcontinental American airlines. Because a good deal of this route was flown over the rugged Rocky Mountains in often winter weather, Northwest pioneered long-distance mountain flying in poor conditions.
During World War II, Northwest’s experience in flying these routes served it well: many of its pilots were tapped to map out the Alaska-Siberia (ALSIB) air ferrying route from Great Falls, Montana to destinations in the Soviet Union. With the risk of crashing into sparsely populated areas a real threat, Northwest’s aircraft were painted with bright red tails to better find them if there was a crash-landing. When the war ended, Northwest kept their red tails, which brought instant recognition from potential passengers.
Before the war, Northwest was already considering a transpacific route through Alaska and Japan to China; after the war, with new long-range aircraft such as the Douglas DC-4 and Boeing 377 Stratocruiser becoming available, this idea became a reality. Northwest flew its first transpacific route from Minneapolis to Tokyo in 1947—the first to use the “Great Northern Circle” route. Asia became Northwest’s stock in trade after 1947. To reflect this, the airline began calling itself Northwest Orient, though it did not begin applying this title to its aircraft immediately, and still officially was merely Northwest Airlines. For awhile, Northwest was not only one of the more well-known American air carriers, it was also Japan’s largest and the American airline with the most destinations in Canada.
By 1960, when Northwest received its first jets (Douglas DC-8s, though these were soon replaced by Boeing 707s), it had the most Asian destinations of any US airline, and was also the largest airline in the Pacific Northwest as well, with a dense network serving small airports between Seattle and Minneapolis, as well a few Midwest locations as well. It had also acquired turboprops as one of the launch customers for the Lockheed L-188 Electra, but after a series of catastrophic accidents, these were quietly replaced by Boeing 727s, making Northwest one of the first all-jet airlines. A new livery was adopted in the early 1970s that kept the red tail but dropped the words “Northwest”; new titling with “Northwest Orient” was carried on the forward fuselage, and more bare metal was used. About the same time, Northwest entered the wide-body field in a big way, ordering both Boeing 747s and McDonnell Douglas DC-10s. In 1977, it received its first European routes, making it a worldwide airline.
Because of its extensive international network and near-stranglehold on the Pacific Northwest (its only rival was Western Airlines), Northwest weathered the post-deregulation American market and even profited from it: seeking to expand into the American East and South, it bought Republic Airlines in 1986. Not long afterwards, the title “Orient” was dropped from Northwest’s advertising and aircraft, as it was no longer a primarily transpacific airline.
This was not without price, however: the sudden acquisition of Republic left Northwest glutted with aircraft it could not afford to operate and routes it did not want, while continued issues with labor nearly led to strikes. The airline nearly went bankrupt in 1993 before restructuring; a modernization program began, with many regional routes farmed out to Northwest Airlink, its commuter service, and older aircraft leased out. Its European routes, however, were strengthened by a close relationship and codesharing agreement with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
Northwest returned to profitability after a brief period of low sales in the late 1990s, but then was deluged with a number of problems. This included its previous uncontested dominance in Asia being challenged by United and Delta; the latter, after buying out Western, was also becoming increasingly present in the Pacific Northwest as well, where low-cost carriers like Alaska and Southwest were also beginning to take a toll. Labor issues continued to be an issue as well.
After the 9/11 attacks grounded American air traffic—which for Northwest, came on the heels of a strike that grounded the airline for two weeks—Northwest filed for bankruptcy in 2005. This led to a massive sell-off of older aircraft, the end of a great deal of complimentary items for passengers, slashing its Airlink fleet, and other cost-saving measures. Northwest emerged from bankruptcy in 2007, but never truly recovered. It curtailed some of its European routes in exchange for new routes to China, but though Northwest was posting a profit, it was not the airline giant it had been in the 1980s and 1990s.
In 2008, Northwest announced a merger with Delta, which would allieviate the problems with both airlines, though Northwest was clearly the junior partner. Though Delta adopted a shade of red in its famous widget identical to that of Northwest’s tail colors, the Northwest brand disappeared by 2010 as Delta became the largest airline in the world by fleet size.
Northwest operated at least 18 L-188s in the 1960s on regional routes, though these aircraft only served a relatively brief time: a series of high-profile, mass casualty crashes led the public to shy away from the Electra. This model shows Northwest's 1950s-1960s livery, though the "royal eagle" crest on the tail was deleted by the mid-1960s.
This model took something of a circuitous route to the Poletto Collection. In the late 1990s, Bary Poletto became friends with a Mr. Burrows of Great Falls, who flew Electras for Northwest in the 1960s. Burrows asked Bary to build him an Electra, so Bary did so in 1/144 scale. It sat on Mr. Burrows' shelf until after his death in 2018, when his son Dewitt donated the model to the Poletto Collection. It was one of the last models Bary built before he was diagnosed with cancer and could no longer build models, so having this donated to the collection was an honor.
Northwest Airlines Lockheed L-188 Electra
Northwest Airlines began life in September 1926 as Northwest Airways, headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and flying air mail. A year later, it expanded its service to include passenger routes, flying Hamilton H-47 biplanes. Due to the fallout from the Air Mail Scandal of the early 1930s, Northwest Airways changed its name to Northwest Airlines in 1934 to distance itself from its air mail beginnings. By that time, it had already moved its main base of operations to Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, and was operating a comparatively large route network through the upper Midwest. Due to this experience, Northwest got the coveted route from New York to Seattle, making the airline one of the few transcontinental American airlines. Because a good deal of this route was flown over the rugged Rocky Mountains in often winter weather, Northwest pioneered long-distance mountain flying in poor conditions.
During World War II, Northwest’s experience in flying these routes served it well: many of its pilots were tapped to map out the Alaska-Siberia (ALSIB) air ferrying route from Great Falls, Montana to destinations in the Soviet Union. With the risk of crashing into sparsely populated areas a real threat, Northwest’s aircraft were painted with bright red tails to better find them if there was a crash-landing. When the war ended, Northwest kept their red tails, which brought instant recognition from potential passengers.
Before the war, Northwest was already considering a transpacific route through Alaska and Japan to China; after the war, with new long-range aircraft such as the Douglas DC-4 and Boeing 377 Stratocruiser becoming available, this idea became a reality. Northwest flew its first transpacific route from Minneapolis to Tokyo in 1947—the first to use the “Great Northern Circle” route. Asia became Northwest’s stock in trade after 1947. To reflect this, the airline began calling itself Northwest Orient, though it did not begin applying this title to its aircraft immediately, and still officially was merely Northwest Airlines. For awhile, Northwest was not only one of the more well-known American air carriers, it was also Japan’s largest and the American airline with the most destinations in Canada.
By 1960, when Northwest received its first jets (Douglas DC-8s, though these were soon replaced by Boeing 707s), it had the most Asian destinations of any US airline, and was also the largest airline in the Pacific Northwest as well, with a dense network serving small airports between Seattle and Minneapolis, as well a few Midwest locations as well. It had also acquired turboprops as one of the launch customers for the Lockheed L-188 Electra, but after a series of catastrophic accidents, these were quietly replaced by Boeing 727s, making Northwest one of the first all-jet airlines. A new livery was adopted in the early 1970s that kept the red tail but dropped the words “Northwest”; new titling with “Northwest Orient” was carried on the forward fuselage, and more bare metal was used. About the same time, Northwest entered the wide-body field in a big way, ordering both Boeing 747s and McDonnell Douglas DC-10s. In 1977, it received its first European routes, making it a worldwide airline.
Because of its extensive international network and near-stranglehold on the Pacific Northwest (its only rival was Western Airlines), Northwest weathered the post-deregulation American market and even profited from it: seeking to expand into the American East and South, it bought Republic Airlines in 1986. Not long afterwards, the title “Orient” was dropped from Northwest’s advertising and aircraft, as it was no longer a primarily transpacific airline.
This was not without price, however: the sudden acquisition of Republic left Northwest glutted with aircraft it could not afford to operate and routes it did not want, while continued issues with labor nearly led to strikes. The airline nearly went bankrupt in 1993 before restructuring; a modernization program began, with many regional routes farmed out to Northwest Airlink, its commuter service, and older aircraft leased out. Its European routes, however, were strengthened by a close relationship and codesharing agreement with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
Northwest returned to profitability after a brief period of low sales in the late 1990s, but then was deluged with a number of problems. This included its previous uncontested dominance in Asia being challenged by United and Delta; the latter, after buying out Western, was also becoming increasingly present in the Pacific Northwest as well, where low-cost carriers like Alaska and Southwest were also beginning to take a toll. Labor issues continued to be an issue as well.
After the 9/11 attacks grounded American air traffic—which for Northwest, came on the heels of a strike that grounded the airline for two weeks—Northwest filed for bankruptcy in 2005. This led to a massive sell-off of older aircraft, the end of a great deal of complimentary items for passengers, slashing its Airlink fleet, and other cost-saving measures. Northwest emerged from bankruptcy in 2007, but never truly recovered. It curtailed some of its European routes in exchange for new routes to China, but though Northwest was posting a profit, it was not the airline giant it had been in the 1980s and 1990s.
In 2008, Northwest announced a merger with Delta, which would allieviate the problems with both airlines, though Northwest was clearly the junior partner. Though Delta adopted a shade of red in its famous widget identical to that of Northwest’s tail colors, the Northwest brand disappeared by 2010 as Delta became the largest airline in the world by fleet size.
Northwest operated at least 18 L-188s in the 1960s on regional routes, though these aircraft only served a relatively brief time: a series of high-profile, mass casualty crashes led the public to shy away from the Electra. This model shows Northwest's 1950s-1960s livery, though the "royal eagle" crest on the tail was deleted by the mid-1960s.
This model took something of a circuitous route to the Poletto Collection. In the late 1990s, Bary Poletto became friends with a Mr. Burrows of Great Falls, who flew Electras for Northwest in the 1960s. Burrows asked Bary to build him an Electra, so Bary did so in 1/144 scale. It sat on Mr. Burrows' shelf until after his death in 2018, when his son Dewitt donated the model to the Poletto Collection. It was one of the last models Bary built before he was diagnosed with cancer and could no longer build models, so having this donated to the collection was an honor.