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Archives at The Museum of Flight


Northwest Airlines Corporation

 Organization

Dates

  • Existence: 1934-1947, 1986-2010 - 2010

Historical Note

Northwest Airlines was a major United States airline from 1926 to 2010. Initially established as Northwest Airways, Inc. it became Northwest Airlines in 1933. From 1947 through 1986, the airline was referred to as Northwest Orient Airlines between 1947 and 1986. The word 'Orient' was used after the airlines expanded their route map to include flights to Asia. It was removed from the airline name after the 1986 merger with Republic Airlines. The airline ceased operations when it was acuired and merged into Delta Air Lines.

Found in 21 Collections and/or Records:

Mary (Finley) North Northwest Airlines Flight Attendant Collection

 Collection — Box One
Identifier: 2008-02-26
Contents of the Collection The Mary (Finley) North Northwest Airlines Flight Attendant Collection is comprised of textual materials and photographs. The material was collected by North during her career as a Northwest Airlines (NWA) flight attendant, circa 1940s-1950s. There are five (5) log books, ranging from 1946-1950, that include details on North's flights, such as locations and dates; NWA materials, such as pay check stubs, ticket holders, business correspondence, and complimentary letters; and...
Dates: 1940s-1950s

Dorie Moore Northwest and Delta Air Lines Collection

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: 2013-09-17-A
Contents of the Collection The collection is comprised of primarily textual materials with two DVDs related to Dorie Moore's career as a flight attendant and purser with Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines, 2001-2012. The collection has been sorted into two series; Series I: Northwest Airlines materials and Series II: Delta Air Lines materials.The bulk of the material is in Series I and is from Northwest Airlines and includes a flight attendant manual; blank employee forms, such as crew member...
Dates: 2001-2012

Northwest Airlines Collection

 Collection
Identifier: 2009-07-14-A
Contents of the Collection The Northwest Airlines Collection consists primarily of company personnel, promotional, and flight service materials produced by Northwest Airlines from 1975 to 2007. The collection contains textual, audiovisual and visual materials. Formats include videocassettes, an audiocassette, slides, and photographs. In addition, there are an assortment of promotional materials, some of which are posters that picture company aircraft and early company logos. There are documents related to personnel...
Dates: 1975-2007

Alex R. Polson Northwest Orient Airlines Collection

 Collection — Folder 1
Identifier: 1989-07-06-A
Contents of the Collection The Alex R. Polson Northwest Orient Airlines Collection is a small collection comprised of textual marketing materials from Northwest Airlines and Northwest Orient Airlines, collected between 1948-1956. Included are a souvenir Flight Kit, maps, postcards, and brochures. There are also timetables with fares for various routes, predominantly for service to Alaska, Hawaii, Japan, and China. Materials feature several aircraft that began commercial service in the late 1940s, including the Boeing...
Dates: 1948-1956

Polly (Peppard) Rohrback Northwest Airlines Flight Attendant photographs

 Collection — Folder 1
Identifier: 2011-02-23-A
Contents of the Collection The collection is small and contains six color photographs that depict to Polly (Peppard) Rohrback's time as a flight attendant for Northwest Airlines (NWA), circa 1960s. The photographs range in size from 1x2" to 8x10". One is a graduation group portrait of NWA stewards and stewardesses, most of the rest are more casual group shots. Two images have captions which provide contextual information; one identifies Donald Nyrop, who was president of NWA, with a Montana-based flight...
Dates: circa 1960s

Robert L. Simons Collection

 Collection
Identifier: 1998-05-05-B
Overview

Robert Lewis Simons was a military and commercial pilot in the mid-twentieth century. The Collection is comprised of materials relating to Simons’ career , including log books, military records, photographs, and films.

Dates: 1925-1972; Majority of material found within 1938-1948

James Sterling Commercial Airlines Collection

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: 1992-01-21
Contents of the Collection The James Sterling Commercial Airlines Collection is comprised of commercial airline ephemera printed between 1930 and 1990, such as route maps, flight schedules, postcards, flight kits, decals, catalogs, brochures, air sickness bags and calendars. The materials were items provided to customers by various airlines, predominantly ones with international routes, including: Pan American World Airways, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, TWA, Northwest Orient Airlines, Mexicana De Aviacion,...
Dates: 1940s to 1980s

Virginia Wagner Commercial Airlines Collection

 Collection — Folder 1
Identifier: 1991-02-20
Contents of the Collection

This small collection is comprised of brochures, boarding passes, promotions, and motion sickness bags collected from Northwest Airlines and United Airlines flights between 1969 and 1991.

Dates: 1969-1991

John Wegg Commercial Airlines Collection

 Collection
Identifier: 2014-09-12
Overview John Wegg is best known as the founder and editor-in-chief of Airliners and Airways magazines, as well as contributor to other publications and author of 12 books on aviation history, airlines, and aircraft manufacturers. The John Wegg Commercial Airlines Collection consists of about 2.7 cubic feet of material such as printed ephemera, photographs, documents, and other materials pertaining to the Wegg's aviation journalism...
Dates: 1929-2004; Majority of material found within circa 1950s-1990s

Part 2, 2017 June 28

 File
Interview Summary In this two-part oral history, Vietnam War veteran Jerry Coy is interviewed about his 40-year career in military and commercial aviation. In part two, he discusses his final assignments with the United States Air Force and his career as a commercial pilot for Northwest Airlines, circa late 1980s to 2008. He also touches on his post-retirement activities. Topics discussed include his service with the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing, his experiences flying the Boeing 727 and 747, flight crew duties...
Dates: 2017 June 28

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