Northwest Airlink

Northwest Airlink was the trade 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.

The 2003-2010 logo for Northwest Airlink.

History

Northwest Airlink was formed on December 1984 when Northwest Airlines took steps to enhance its domestic services by entering a marketing agreement with Mesaba Airlines. Mesaba at the time was the dominant airline serving Minneapolis/St Paul at the time. Under the agreement Mesaba would operate as Northwest Orient Airlink. Mesaba initially operated commuter and regional turboprop aircraft. The Mesaba fleet at this time comprised fourteen Beechcraft 99 and one Fokker F27 Friendship aircraft. In 1985 Big Sky Airlines entered the Northwest Airlink agreement with 8-18 passenger seat aircraft including British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31 and Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner commuter propjets.[1] Another Northwest Airlink operator was Fischer Brothers Aviation flying CASA C-212 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]

Northwest Jetlink was subsequently formed to operate services with Avro RJ85 jets flown by Mesaba Airlines. Another Northwest Jetlink operator was Business Express Airlines flying Avro RJ70 jets.

Destinations

Operators and fleet
Northwest Airlink Saab 340 operated by Mesaba shortly after takeoff from Minneapolis St-Paul
Northwest Jet Airlink CRJ-200
Northwest Airlink BAe Jetstream 31 operated by Express Airlines I

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 Parent
Compass Airlines CP CPZ Compass Embraer E170 Northwest Airlines
Embraer E175
Mesaba Airlines XJ MES Mesaba Bombardier CRJ-200 Northwest Airlines
Bombardier CRJ-900
Saab 340
Pinnacle Airlines 9E FLG Flagship Bombardier CRJ-200 Pinnacle Airlines Corp.
Saab 340

Incidents and accidents
  • March 4, 1987: Northwest Airlink Flight 2268, operated by Fischer Brothers Aviation, a CASA 212 N160FB was on a scheduled flight from Mansfield to Detroit with an intermediate stop in Cleveland when it crashed while landing at 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: Northwest Airlink Flight 5719 being operated by Express Airlines I, a Jetstream 31, was flying a scheduled flight from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport to International Falls with an en route stop in Hibbing when it crashed while approaching for landing at 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: Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701 was a Bombardier CRJ200 with a crew of two operating a ferry flight (with no passengers) from Little Rock, AR to Minneapolis, MN. It crashed in a residential area in 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]

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.
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