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!
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Advantages: Cheap, wide connections, Drinks are on the house, available all the time Disadvantages: Entertainment? Nice cabin crew! Unusual noises and lots of 'em
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: 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.
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
Advantages: High turnover of passengers, but doesnot feel as stress out as London or Paris airports Disadvantages: Lots of missing baggage lieing somewhere
Advantages: Operate an efficient service, fly to over 500 destinations via many partners, excellent customer service Disadvantages: none so far..
Connoisseur_Haggler 07.07.2001 (07.07.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
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Mar 25th, 2002
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