North West Airlines

Advantages: Cheap flight prices. Seem to run on time.
Disadvantages: Not the prettiest cabin crew!

After being miraculously excluded from the stringent security checks at the departure gate at Gatwick airport (see previous op), I headed onto the Northwest Airlines plane. I had been sitting looking at it for well over an hour whilst waiting for boarding, and it was nothing fancy, just the run of the mill DC-10, with the company name and logo on its side. The seating was arranged in a 2-5-2 arrangement across the plane. I had forgotten to say that ...
...one of the 5 seat sections, and this is where I ended up. However this was to my benefit, as the plane was not busy, and myself and another passenger who sat at the other end of the 5 seats shared them for the entire 10-hour flight. The staff could easily have been mistaken as a collection of retired headmistresses, hospital matrons, and failed weight-watchers! (Hence my title). I was surprised as the ‘usual’ flight attendants are slim, ... Read review

Advantages: Good route network, comfortable seating
Disadvantages: Food poor in domestic economy, staff not always great, safety concerns

...(GTF), a mid-sized town in north central Montana. This routing meant I had to change 'planes in Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) with a layover of about 5 hours. Cost of the ticket was GBP 280 and the relevant flight numbers are NW43 (London to Minneapolis) and NW709 (Minneapolis to Great Falls). I should point out at this point that I had originally intended to stay in Montana for some time but due to unforeseen circumstances had to return to the UK just ...
...calling the US offices of Northwest and must say that all the staff I spoke to were extremely helpful and courteous. I could have returned on the same day I 'phoned if I was willing to part with an extra GBP 700 (!), but choosing to wait a few days was able to get a return flight by paying an extra GBP 320, which wasn't too outrageous. ---International flight--- Check in at Gatwick (not my favourite airport) was speedy as was progression through ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap, cheerful and on time.....
Disadvantages: No legroom, narrow seats and no in-flight entertainment to speak of...

When deciding upon a choice of carrier for our return trip to Las Vegas in June, price rather than past experience was the key, and not wanting to part with £1000 each for return flights with Virgin Atlantic my wife and I elected to fly with Northwest Airlines (NWA). Personally I had never heard of them, but managed to read one review prior to departure which although evenly balanced didn't leave me feeling like the Virgin experience was going to ...
...Vegas from London Gatwick so we therefore had to fly into Minneapolis change planes and fly onto Las Vegas. In total, rather than a 9-hour journey it took 16 hours however the economy price more than made up for this at £395 per person return. Very cheap indeed considering the season and the fact we would have to change. After arriving at Gatwick a good 3 hours before we were due to depart we collected the tickets and attempted to check-in our luggage. ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap, wide connections, Drinks are on the house, available all the time
Disadvantages: Entertainment? Nice cabin crew! Unusual noises and lots of 'em

It is a fact of life that every single individual aircraft makes a slightly diffrent noise. No two, say, Boeing 747s make the same noise when you're onboard. Yet every NWA plane makes a tremendous din - like there's something wrong with the engine. Which sounds likely, once you've read this. UPDATE 12/8/03: Since I first wrote this op, I've had the misfortune to travel on another 2 NWA aircraft. Yes. And I've decided to write about them. And correct ...
...kind? Oh yes. And because both the flights were really a little worse - I've decided to drop the rating from 3 stars (average) to 2 stars (poor). WARNING: The following section may be very boring indeed. Feel free to skip it out. It’s not entirely relevant, just explaining what the hell I was doing on Northwest Airlines, the first time. It now seems to be an annual thing that my dad goes to a Progress Conference. Every year they’re in a different ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap, direct flights, Skyteam awards (KLM, Air France etc)
Disadvantages: Old planes, poor in flight entertainment

I have used Northwest airlines several times in the last two years to fly to Minneapolis from London Gatwick direct, and also to fly internally in the US into and out of Washington Dulles. The flight from Gatwick is nearly always full, and the aircraft in use are DC-10s. These planes are ageing badly, I was surprised to find Northwest still flying them as it seems every other developed nation airline has replaced them years ago. I don't know how ...
...the features of more modern fleet aircraft. There is no seat back TV, the in flight entertainment is by projector on the bulkheads. Unless you're pretty close you can't see what's being projected! Space in economy class is not the greatest, although at 6'4" this is a problem for me on most flights where I don't get upgraded! The seats are old fashioned, and not particluarly comfortable too. The DC10s are scheduled to be replaced some time in this ... Read review