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Hijacking Was Feared In The Case Of The Northwest Plane That Flew Too Far
Have you ever been so engaged in a heated discussion while driving that you completely drive past your destination without noticing, although you've got the GPS on? It's hard to imagine, but that's exactly what two Northwest Airlines pilots are claiming happened to them on Wednesday, when they overshot their destination of Minneapolis by 150 miles, claiming they were distracted by their "heated discussion over airline policy and lost track of their location."
No one was hurt, and the plane eventually did turn back around and safely land in Minneapolis, although behind schedule and with some majorly freaked out air traffic controllers. You see, after the airport tower couldn't get contact with the pilots for over an hour, and then when they did they received vague answers, the controllers feared that the flight had been hijacked. Fighter jets in the area were scrambled and ready to fly, but weren't deployed once the NWA pilots finally got their heads on straight and completed maneuvers to prove that they were indeed in control of their own plane.
Tags: Airline News / Delta / Northwest Airlines / Airlines / → All Tags
Confusion Alert! Northwest Changing Flight Numbers This Weekend
The sometimes schizophrenic, sometimes awkward, and sometimes plain silly consequences of the Delta / Northwest merger continue over the next two weekends, with plans to summarily change Northwest's flight numbers and match them to Delta's. Both airlines promise that customers will shortly be informed of the changes via email, which is kind of like the time the federal government promised Katrina victims "hold on - we'll be right there!" It might be true in theory, but in practice it's going to confusing and dismal for everyone.
Well, except for us. Since we're not flying Northwest this weekend, for us it's mostly just entertainment:
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Northwest Planes And Delta Red Dresses Spotted At Detroit-Metro
Yesterday morning, during our hop on a 6am flight from New York-LaGuardia to Detroit-Metro, we were once again confronted by the schizophrenia of the whole Delta/Northwest merger. Although the fancy McNamara terminal at DTW has been decked out in Delta regalia since before April, a few traces of the old red-and-grey still exist.
For instance, our DC-9 plane was still sporting the Northwest livery, as was this 747 jumbo jet pictured above, patiently sitting at a gate until a 12:35pm departure to Tokyo (it's no coincidence that the terminal's sushi bar is across from this gate). Aside from that, everything from the in-flight magazine to the Biscoff cookies were stamped with the Delta logo.
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US Air Travel Is Way, Way Down For First Half of 2009
Apparently we now have an answer to that question about whether people are flying more because of cheap airfare. Not so much, no:
U.S. airlines served 282 million passengers in the first five months of this year, a 9.5-percent decrease on a year-on-year basis, U.S. business news outlets reported Friday. Figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics also show that, in the current economic downturn, nearly all U.S. airlines, except Southwest Airlines and US Airways, suffered steep drops in the number of passengers during the period.
Major airlines were hit much harder than LCC's, with Northwest Airlines leading the decline by posting a -20.2% plastering. Southwest served the most passengers, but even they took a 5.3% hit.
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Delta Says 'No Fat Chicks' For Its Signature Red Dress
Besides the whole Coke or Pepsi controversy, the merger between Delta and Northwest has gone pretty smoothly. Sure, employees and representatives on both sides had their issues, but for the most part they've quickly become one big happy, blended family. However, now that things are almost done, the Northwest flight attendant union is speaking out against Delta's fashion.
The union is upset because Delta’s signature red dress for its female flight attendants is only available up to size 18. Red definitely is noticeable, and the Northwest union feels that Delta doesn’t want to draw attention to its larger employees. These Richard Tyler-designed dresses aren’t the only options for in-flight fashion, as there are plenty of blue pantsuits available in larger sizes, but then you'd be without the chicness of a red wrapdress.
We say that the union has a legitimate complaint. If you’re going to offer a snazzy red dress, then you should offer it to everyone. Certain flight attendants may look better and more professional in a more traditional uniform, and some may look great in that red dress. Let the flight attendants decide what looks best for them, and we’ll trust that they make the right choice.
Related Stories: [Photo of the Red Dress: dlta_airlines]
·Flight Attendant Union Sees Red Over Size Limit on Delta Uniform [AJC]
·Northwest Gets Its Own Moment At Delta's Heritage Museum [Jaunted]
·Airline News coverage [Jaunted]
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Northwest Gets Its Own Moment At Delta's Heritage Museum
Not satisfied with just talking over the skies, Delta now has its eyes focused on museums. At the Delta Heritage Museum just outside Atlanta, the staff recently debuted an exhibit dedicated to the role that Northwest Airlines has had in the history of commercial air travel at home and abroad.
The exhibit, Red Tail Flying: Voices and Images of Northwest Airlines, will feature vintage advertisements and commercials from the airline, onboard amenities, and even a model of a 747. All of these artifacts, notably from the former competition, snuggled right up close to some of Delta’s pieces of history.
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Detroit Metro Airport Might Be the Best Thing About Detroit
Is it spring yet? With snow beating down on the tarmac yesterday at Detroit Metro Airport, we're extremely sad to say that Punxsutawney Phil was right again. Nothing is more depressing than agreeing with a groundhog on the weather.
So instead we turned our focus onto the awesome interior of one of our favorite terminals, the inside of Northwest's sprawling Concourse A, which has a wingspan of some 78 gates.
Keep reading for our video of the concourse.
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Your Next In-Flight Rum & Coke May Be Missing A Key Ingredient
For the last 77 years, two of Atlanta’s biggest companies, Delta and Coca-Cola, have been best friends on the ground and in the air. However, things aren’t as friendly as they used to be. With the merger between Delta and Northwest, the Atlanta airline is now considering—gasp—Pepsi products.
Northwest has been a proud Pepsi supporter lately, so we’re thinking that they really don’t want to say goodbye to Sierra Mist or Aquafina. And Delta's CEO, Richard Anderson, used to be a hot shot at Northwest, so maybe he’s the one shaking things up. No word on if the airline is considering offering an in-flight Pepsi Challenge.
