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 ... Read review
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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 ... ...the end of 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’ ... more
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 I did not want to be on the end of 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, leggy, youthful, and have more make-up than Boots! Not with Northwest though, where they must have the oldest and scariest cabin crew in the world! Northwest do pride themselves on being an equal opportunities and affirmative action employer, so I imagine this means that they do not exclude anyone from recruitment, be they black, white, male, female, or over 45. It was a refreshing experience.
Having got over the shock of an aging Morticia-like attendant squeezing past me as I stowed my cabin baggage, I settled into my seat, and waited for take-off. The seats I noted were quite comfortable, although this was almost certainly because I did not have anyone sitting next to me. Northwest Airlines offer on average 31” of seat pitch in economy class, compared to American Airlines 36”, and Air Zimbabwe 30”. So they are not the worst for space but also far from the standard set by American. However I was comfortable.
We took off around 15 minutes late, as is common at Gatwick, which is extremely busy. Early into the flight, the attendants crept down the aisles shrieking ‘Beverage! Beverage!’ at the top of their voices. This shook me somewhat as I had been deep into the in-flight magazine, which had some interesting articles in it. However I regained my composure, and requested a drink…sorry beverage!
Then followed the in-flight meal. The starter was a salad of couscous with feta cheese, peppers and tomato, and was extremely tasty. There was a choice of two main courses available. Mexican Chicken or Creamy Pasta. I opted for the Chicken, which was very nice. It was served with not very well mashed spuds, and green beans, and to finish a chocolate orange cake, with tea or coffee if you wanted. I also washed the meal down with a small bottle of red wine, a very pleasing Australian Chardonnay. Later the chap sat across the aisle form me was sent a full bottle (75cl) of red wine form his friends in business class, which at his insistence I helped him to finish.
So, with the meal over and cleared away, I settled down and slept right through the first of the movies –A.I. I did watch the second one – Serendipity – as I had read a review on Ciao about it. As that op stated it was ok, in a girly fashion, but I found it was also perfect to relieve the boredom of the long flight. After around 8 hours a light snack was served. This comprised a slightly soggy cheese & tomato pizza, which looked gross but tasted ok, and a tub of ice cream, which was devoured with gusto by all around me. We were served yet more ‘beverages”, and offered the ubiquitous hot towel.
When we were nearing our destination we were shown two very helpful videos about how to fill out the US visa waiver immigration form (I-94), and the customs declaration. This took some of the hassle out of the arrival later at US customs.
We arrived in Minneapolis 20 minutes early, despite our late departure from London. I suppose those who had a short transit time were glad of the extra time, however it meant that my transit was even longer than the 6 hours that I anticipated. This served to give me plenty of time to write down some stuff about the airport (which I may divulge at a later date!).
I had to collect and transfer my luggage for it to be out onto the Northwest flight to Calgary that I was to board, but this was helped by kind Northwest ground staff who pointed me towards the transit belt.
I watched the Northwest staff at the gate for quite some time, and they seemed to deal with everyone very promptly, and efficiently. They boarded several flights before mine, and I can only compliment Northwest on their system, which saw everyone through the gate very quickly, despite the tightened gate security, and spot checks on bags etc.
My Northwest flight was full that evening, and for over two hours I felt cramped, on the A320, which had seats 3 and 3 across the plane. Again I had an aisle seat.
The staff was obviously form the same batch as my earlier flight, and served us ‘beverages’ and some pretzels, to sustain us on our journey to Calgary. We were also given Canadian custom declaration forms to fill in, and offered help by the attendants to fill them in if we wanted.
Once again the flight arrived ahead of time. The Northwest ground staff at the airport at Calgary was not immediately apparent, but there was not much scope for getting lost, and so I passed through customs and collected my bags with the minimum of hassle.
My experiences on my return flights on the same routes 9 days later were the same, and both landed early. The only difference was that my luggage was checked right through from Calgary to London Gatwick, so I did not need to collect it at Minneapolis.
I would not hesitate to fly Northwest again, partly because of their cheap fares, and because they offer and efficient service, which although may not be as flashy as other airlines, will get you to where you are going comfortably, and if my experience is anything to go by, probably early too!
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 ...
cladach29 03.09.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of North West Airlines
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. ...
Badger_Boy 05.07.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of North West Airlines
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 ...
monkfeesh 20.04.2003 (03.11.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of North West Airlines
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 ...
peteshone 14.06.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of North West Airlines
Advantages: Member of Flying Dutchman Frequent Flyer Program, Extensive USA network Disadvantages: Attendents don't give wine to under 18/21 yr olds, Delays, Nothing Special, Legroom not brilliant, Lack of Inflight Entertainment.
...visit family and friends in North America. In total I made 4 flights from London Gatwick (airport code LGW) to Minneapolis St Paul (MSP) and then a connecting flight on to Denver (DEN). Later I flew from Denver to Detroit and after some weeks back to London Gatwick on a direct flight.
The first leg of my journeys was comfortable for most of the journey. Boarding the plane occurred with people sitting at the back first, through to those near the ... ...hand. Also, having been in North America for 6 weeks I did see a news report which stated NorthWest Airlines was worst American operator for delays during the year (1999). I don't know if they have improved since then, but I would say the service I experience at the time would support the news report.
For those who aren't in a great hurry, and just want a regular airline which doesn't have a great deal special about, NorthWest would be a good option. ...
NESMA 14.04.2001 (22.04.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of North West Airlines
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Advantages: Lots of Bonuses found on their web page. Disadvantages: Have to be resident of the US or Asia
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+ sky team +
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~* Price *~
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~* on board*~
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~* Bad Points *~
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