MarkXS, I understand your concern and I do agree with the fact that luggage handling is sub-par at NW, from several points of view. (Another example is the fact that priority tags are useless half the time, where as CO gets it right most of the time.) This is indeed a negative spot and I really wish NW did something about it!

But let's be fair here. You're saying that typically NW bags start rolling after 45 minutes, while other airlines do it in 20. That's twice the amount of time and it can be frustrating, but the difference here is 20 minutes. 20 extra minutes would not delay your 10:30pm arrival at home until after midnight - that's over 90 minutes. It just doesn't add up.