Northwest Airlink

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Northwest Airlink
IATA
ICAO
Callsign
  • NJ
  • CP
  • XJ
  • 9E
  • NEE
  • CPZ
  • MES
  • FLG
  • NORTHEAST
  • COMPASS
  • MESABA
  • FLAGSHIP
FoundedDecember 1984 (1984-12)
Ceased operationsJuly 2009 (2009-07)
(merged into
Parent company
(2009)

Northwest Airlink was the

brand name of Northwest Airlines' regional airline service, which flew turboprop and regional jet aircraft from Northwest's domestic hubs in Minneapolis, Detroit, and Memphis. Service was primarily to small-to-medium-sized cities and towns where larger aircraft might not be economical to operate and also to larger markets to either provide additional capacity or more frequent flights than could be justified using mainline aircraft. Beginning in July 2009, the Northwest Airlink trade name was phased out, and replaced by the Delta Connection trade name for Delta Air Lines
as part of the Delta/Northwest merger.

History

Northwest Airlink was formed in December 1984 when Northwest Airlines took steps to enhance its domestic services by entering a marketing agreement with

CASA C-212 Dornier 228 and Short 360 commuter turboprops.[2]

An

Official Airline Guide (OAG) flight schedule dated February 1994 lists the following commuter and regional air carriers operating Northwest Airlink service:[3]

In 2001, Pacific Island Aviation was operating Northwest Airlink service with Short 360 commuter turboprop aircraft between Guam, Saipan and Tinian.[4]

Avro RJ70
jets.

Destinations

Further information: Northwest Airlink destinations

Operators and fleet

Fleet

Northwest Airlink BAe Jetstream 31 operated by Express Airlines I (1991)

The following air carriers were operating Northwest Airlink service at the time of the merger of Northwest Airlines with Delta Air Lines:

Northwest Airlink fleet
Airline IATA Service ICAO Code Callsign Aircraft In Fleet Image Parent
Compass Airlines CP CPZ Compass Embraer E175 32 Northwest Airlink Embraer E175 (2008) Northwest Airlines
Mesaba Airlines XJ MES Mesaba Bombardier CRJ-200 16 Northwest Airlink CRJ-200 (2012)
Bombardier CRJ-900 34 "Mesaba 3513" arriving from MSP.
Saab 340 49 Northwest Airlink Saab 340 operated by Mesaba shortly after takeoff from Minneapolis St-Paul (2007)
Pinnacle Airlines 9E FLG Flagship Bombardier CRJ-200 39 Northwest Airlink CRJ-200 (2012) Pinnacle Airlines Corp.

Historical regional jet fleet

The Northwest Airlink brand, through its various regional and commuter airline partners, operated a variety of twinjet aircraft over the years including the following types:

Aircraft Image
Avro RJ70
Avro RJ85 A beautiful RJ-85 gliding into MSP, she will be missed come october...most of Mesaba's RJ-85's will live on with Air France. 1101

Historical turboprop fleet

The Northwest Airlink brand, through its various regional and commuter airline partners, operated a variety of twin turboprop aircraft over the years including the following types:

Aircraft Image
ATR 42
BAe Jetstream 31
 Northwest Airlink BAe Jetstream 31 operated by Express Airlines I (1991)
Beechcraft Model 99
CASA C-212 CASA C-212-200 N160FB of Northwest Airlink at Flint, Michigan
Dornier 228
Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner Recently painted in the new Air Link colours. This was to be my ride to Toledo - I didn't realize how short the distance was. Company metro slides behind the Dash also in new colours.

Look all around the Dash 8 to see the Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner

Fokker F27 This rather elderly Mesaba F-27 was scrapped shortly after I took this shot through the tinted windows of the Northwest club louonge at MSP in the early 1980's.
Short 360 Northwest Airlink (operated by Pacific Island Aviation) Short 360 N711PK at Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport
De Havilland Canada Dash 8-100

Incidents and accidents

  • March 4, 1987:
    Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. The plane yawed violently to the left about 70 feet above the runway, skidded to the right, hit 3 ground support vehicles in front of Concourse F, and caught fire. Out of 19 occupants onboard (16 passengers and 3 crew), 9 were killed. The cause of the crash was determined to be pilot error.[5]
  • December 1, 1993:
    Chisholm-Hibbing Airport. The plane descended struck the tops of trees and then two ridges and came to rest inverted on its right side. All 18 occupants (16 passengers and 2 crew) died. The cause of the crash was the lack of crew-coordination and loss of awareness of the altitude during a night instrument landing.[6]
  • October 14, 2004:
    Jefferson City, MO due to the flight crew pushing the plane past its capabilities and ignoring warnings. Both pilots were killed. The NTSB has since finished its investigation of the accident.[7]
  • April 12, 2007: Pinnacle Airlines Flight 4712, a Bombardier CRJ200 from Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport overran the runway when landing at Cherry Capital Airport (TVC), Traverse City, Michigan. The plane was damaged, but no one was injured. The NTSB determined that the cause of the accident was the "pilots’ decision to land at TVC without performing a landing distance assessment", which in turn was caused by fatigued pilots and unclear directions from the TVC controller tower. The report recommended more landing distance training, post-accident drug testing, and further criteria for runway closures in snow and ice conditions.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ https://www.airliners.net, photos of Northwest Airlink / Big Sky Airlines aircraft
  2. ^ http://www.airliners.net, photos of Northwest Airlink / Fischer Brothers aircraft
  3. ^ Feb. 1994 OAG Pocket Flight Guide, North American Edition
  4. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, Feb. 1, 2001 Pacific Islands Aviation/Northwest Airlink timetable
  5. ^ "NTSB report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-04-10. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
  6. ^ "NTSB report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-20. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
  7. ^ NTSB Aircraft Accident Report, Crash of Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701, October 14, 2004.
  8. ^ "Accident Description: Northwest Airlink Flight 4712". Aviation-safety.net. April 12, 2007. Retrieved June 2, 2016.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Northwest_Airlink&oldid=1210665142"