Airline completes retirement of DC10 fleet after 34 years of service

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Northwest Airlines announced that it will introduce its customers to the comforts and amenities of its modern Airbus A330 aircraft on the airline's daily nonstop service between its Minneapolis/St. Paul hub and Honolulu, beginning today.

The deployment of the most modern aircraft in Northwest's fleet on the popular flight also marks the retirement of the DC10 aircraft from scheduled passenger service at Northwest after 34 years of transporting millions of customers within the United States, across oceans and throughout the world.

"Northwest's A330 aircraft will provide travelers between the Twin Cities and Honolulu with a welcome 'Aloha' on the longest domestic route we fly," said Tom Bach, vice president of network planning and revenue management. "Our customers will enjoy a level of seat comfort and in-flight entertainment normally found only on international flights, providing a travel experience to Hawaii unmatched by any other U.S. airline."

This morning's DC10 arrival at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport of flight 98 from Honolulu, which landed with 273 passengers and a crew of 11 at 5:39 a.m. Central time and taxied into gate F10, marked the retirement of the DC10 from scheduled service at Northwest. The flight departed Honolulu yesterday at 6:12 p.m. Hawaiian time.

Aircraft number 1237/N237NW, which was built in 1980 and joined the Northwest fleet in 1997, was the last of the two remaining DC10s in the airline's operating fleet to fly passengers in scheduled service. The aircraft operated as flight 99 to Honolulu on Jan. 7 and flight 98 on the return to the Twin Cities. It and the other remaining DC10 have been sold.

Modern Airbus A330 Replacing DC10

Northwest retired its last DC10 from international service on October 29, 2006, when it began operating its entire trans-Atlantic schedule with A330s. With an average fleet age of just two years, Northwest's A330s are one of the youngest trans-Atlantic fleets in the airline industry. The airline has an additional eight aircraft on order, scheduled for delivery between now and the end of the year.

Northwest began taking delivery of new Airbus A330 aircraft in Aug. 2003 and currently has 24 aircraft in trans-Atlantic, trans-Pacific, intra-Asia and beginning today, mainland U.S.-Hawaii service. Its A330 fleet includes 13 298-seat A330-300s, and 11 longer-range, 243-seat A330-200s.

A330 Provides Travelers with Better Seats, In-Flight Entertainment System

Northwest's A330s are equipped with the airline's World Business Class lie-flat seats, new seats in coach class, and a personal audio/video in-flight entertainment (IFE) system in both cabins that Northwest was the first North American airline to offer.

The fully interactive IFE system offers travelers a choice of 40 movies, four short-subject video programs, 56 different audio selections, six games and in-flight information, all available "on demand," giving customers the freedom and flexibility to start, pause or stop their selection at any time. The gateway to all of these features is a convenient retractable controller, making it easy to access from any sitting position, as opposed to stationary controllers fixed on armrests.

In World Business Class, Northwest customers are able to view any of these features on a 10.4 inch/26.4 centimeter video screen, 50 percent larger in size than the screens found in business class seats on most other U.S. airlines, and a number of international airlines. Northwest customers traveling in coach class are able to view any of these features on a personal video screen located in the back of the seat in front of them.

World Business Class travelers enjoy an array of features including a seat that reclines 176 degrees (more recline than any other U.S. airline), a leather-wrapped privacy canopy, 60 inches of space between seats, 110-volt personal laptop computer power, cycling lumbar support, a six-way adjustable headrest that slides along a track so it can be adjusted to a traveler's height, and four seat-back storage pockets.

Northwest's A330s also feature a completely new coach class seat, offered in a two-seat, aisle, four-seat, aisle, two-seat configuration throughout much of the aircraft. As a result, no seat is more than one seat away from an aisle. The coach seat, which offers more personal space than any other seat in the airline's fleet, features a "winged" headrest, with bendable sides, allowing the customer to rest their head or sleep toward the side of the seat.

A330 More Efficient, Quieter Aircraft than DC10

The A330 provides Northwest with fuel savings, lower maintenance costs, and is a much quieter aircraft than the DC10-30 it replaces. As an example, on the Minneapolis/St. Paul – Honolulu route, the A330-300 will carry 25 more passengers, yet consume 5,700 fewer gallons (21,575) of fuel each way, than the DC10, saving Northwest 35% in fuel costs alone.

DC10 History at Northwest Airlines

Northwest began operating the DC10 in 1972, when the first aircraft arrived from an order placed in 1968 for 22 new airplanes. The airline was one of a small number of carriers to fly the DC10-40 version, providing it with a competitive advantage in range, operational costs and engine commonality with the Pratt and Whitney-powered Boeing 747s in its fleet. The first route for the 236-passenger aircraft was flight 72 from the Twin Cities to Milwaukee to Tampa, Fla.

In 1989, Northwest began acquiring the 273-seat DC10-30, primarily for trans-Atlantic service. Northwest's DC10 fleet peaked in size at 45 aircraft in 2001, consisting of 21 DC10-40s and 24 DC10-30s. It retired the last of its DC10-40s in late 2002.

During their 34 years of service, Northwest's DC10s carried more than 125 million passengers, completed more than 765,000 flights and traveled more than 1.3 billion miles.