As Northwest Airlines officially disappeared this week (goodbye Nwa.com; goodbye NW code; goodbye Grovers Corners), I thought I’d re-print a column from last year when Delta announced Northwest was disappearing…

Delta announced that the Northwest Airlines brand will disappear by the end of 2010.  I’m fully aware that most airline brands become far more beloved once [...]

Delta announced that the Northwest Airlines brand will disappear by the end of 2010.  I’m fully aware that most airline brands become far more beloved once they’ve been gone for a while (Eastern?), but even so I always felt that Northwest was unfairly trashed.  Sure, they stranded those people on the tarmac for what, 7 [...]

A Northwest 747 carrying more than 400 passengers from Manila to Tokyo hit unexpected turbulence, injuring 30 people on board, 2 seriously.  You’ve probably seen a bunch of stories on the local news after the US Airways accident blabbering on about the dangers of birds and airplanes, and whether the same thing could happen to [...]

Northwest Airlines may not be around much longer, but they’re going out with a bang if you’re hoping to use your Worldperks miles.  Northwest (unlike a number of its partners) previously had allowed you to use Worldperks miles to book a trip with little advance purchase without hitting you with a fee.  No longer.  Tickets [...]

A couple of weeks ago Delta introduced a program called “Choice Seats” that allowed passengers to purchase exit rows and a handful of other seats for up to $25 (this matched a similar program from Northwest). It turns out that elite members hated that their good seats were either gone or now had to [...]

Q: What’s going to happen with my miles?
A: Nothing for now.  There won’t be any changes until they eventually combine the two programs, but I bet we’re at least a year from that happening.
Q: Is combining the programs a good thing or a bad thing for me?
A: I think it’s somewhat bad thing for you, [...]

(Thanks, View from the Wing)
It looks like Northwest is beginning to make its push away from Continental, albeit in a small way:

(updated from an earlier incomplete post…)
Delta will launch flights to a host of cities in Africa and Asia next year, as they cherry-pick opportunities for cities that will survive during an economic slowdown.  Incredibly, they’ll offer one-stop service from Atlanta  (through Cape Verde) to Luanda, Angola; Malabo, Equitorial Guinea; and Abuja, Nigeria.  Seriously.  I know [...]

A quick note about last week’s announcement from Delta that it will add nonstops from Pittsburgh and Raleigh to Paris:
Northwest has just announced that it is suspending flights from Detroit to Paris (as well as Seattle – Heathrow and Detroit – Osaka) beginning in January.  Perhaps someone can explain how Detroit to Paris doesn’t work [...]

As part of its integration with Northwest, Delta is changing some of its fees — you’ll be happy to know they are actually eliminating some:
- No more curbside check-in fees ($3 in your pocket)
- No more fuel surcharges on award tickets (up to $100 in your pocket)
- Reducing telephone booking fee to $20 from $25 [...]