Northwest Airlines, inc.

Northwest Airlines was incorporated in 1926 as Northwest Airways. The company began service on October 1, 1926, as an airmail carrier between the Twin Cities and Chicago. Passenger service was inaugurated in July 1927. Northwest expanded its service through the Dakotas and Montana to Spokane and Seattle, Washington, in 1928-1933. The company was reincorporated as Northwest Airlines, Inc. in 1934.

During World War II the company set up and operated a military cargo route to Canada, Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands.

In 1946 Northwest Airlines was awarded a route to Alaska, and the "Great Circle" route to the Far East. Scheduled service to the Far East began July 15, 1947, with stops in Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, and Manila. The company reached the East Coast in the late 1940s, and began the first transcontinental air coach service in 1949.

Northwest participated in the Korean Airlift from 1950 to 1953 during the Korean War.

In 1979 transatlantic service to Europe was begun. A holding company, NWA Inc., was created in 1984, with Northwest Airlines as its principal operating subsidiary. That same year Northwest entered into a marketing agreement with Mesaba Aviation Inc., a Minnesota-based regional carrier, under which Mesaba operated as Northwest Orient Airlink. NWA Inc. was taken private in 1989 after a leveraged buyout by Alfred A. Checchi, Gary Wilson, and other investors.

For many years the company used the name Northwest Orient Airlines for advertising and marketing purposes.

In October 2008 Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines acquired Northwest Airlines, making it the single largest airline at that time. The merger also ended Northwest's Minnesota-based commercial operations after more than eighty years.

From the guide to the Corporate records., 1917-1998 (bulk 1930-1994)., (Repository Unknown)