NORTHWORST 32 year old plane missing part of wall
 

I'm so sick of antique airplanes flown by NORTHWORST! My first flight on monday was in a dc 9 built Dec 29th 1969. The plane was worn out, period. My first flight yesterday was on a boeing 727 built in 1968 (an extended overwater plane no less!). This plane had a missing wall piece. I was sitting in first looking at the wiring and insulation in the wall!! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif What kind of LOSER airline flies a plane with a hole in the wall?? Not a small hole either, looked like a missing connection panel between two large panels. The third plane was a dc 9 built in 1968 also.
My favorite part was what the FA said...
As you all have heard, snake always says, "when the tail is red, take the train instead." The FA actually told me (when I asked if the hole was "safe")...
"If your flying the red tails, you'll wish you'd taken the rails!" http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif
What a crappy, crummy product. I had forgotten flying CO this year how bad NWA is.

No way! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I didn't know it was possible to forget how bad NW was? I got bumped from a UA flight yesterday and was put on NW for a 1.5 journey. The flight attended gave me a ton of attitude when I dared ask for a second cream cheese for the stale bagel they called breakfast.

I NEVER voluntarily book on that airline. It is more painful than root canal.

Now you will can REALLY appreciate CO, even if things are not perfect and the nuts are COLD!

[This message has been edited by ROADRUNNER (edited 10-19-2000).]

Cigarman:

Want to share the flight numbers / dates with us?

Just a bit of perspective, perhaps: (1) In more than 3 million miles on Northwest I have never flown on a plane where there was a "hole in the wall" through which I could "see the wires." In conclude that this must be a very rare occurence indeed. (2) I have experienced some "attitude" on Northwest... and on United and USAIRWAYS, and American, as well. I have experienced less of it on Northwest in the past two years. But they are surely not unique in such responses from tired, overworked FAs.

I fly NW because I choose to. I am sometimes disappointed, but by and large my experience is good, Worldperks is the best, and I like the airline. I am just frustrated to see it bashed in forum after forum by a few people with what I have come to believe is biased judgment. They may indeed have cause to complain about their treatment, but I write to say that is not the experience of all of us or we would not be so foolish as to keep flying Northwest.

Who cares if it is rare? Should it happen at all? Wire flight was 8:55 AM from IND to DTW yesterday morning. Don't have stubs with me for flight number.

For the record the flight is NW 0380.

That being said, I doubt very much if Phil was suggesting that it should happen at all. Rather, he was, as he outlined, providing some perspective on your initial evaluation of NW, which consisted of:

cyber-shouting: Northwest and loser airline, and calling it a crappy and crummy product, based on three flights.

The age of the aircraft is not necessarily the problem. Clearly interior maintenance was at fault here. I could imagine a 10-year old plane, not properly serviced, experiencing the same problem.

phil wrote> I fly NW because I choose to.
I am sometimes disappointed, but by and
large my experience is good,

i used to fly allentown/detroit frequently.
the nwa folks there (allentown) were
terrific. friendly, high-energy, do the
job competently and with a flash of their
personality. they actually cleaned the
cabin too! <g>

i agree that you've got it good in
allentown, pa. detroit? nwa is the pits.

i wonder if the union contract(s) prohibit
cloning the nwa's allentown staff?

-drr

Well Cigarman, you will love what I have set up for Thanksgiving then; my old man used his miles to give me, my wife and my mom free tkts from IAH to SFO on NW! I won't get miles on this trip, this alone is a loser.
Also, we have to connect thru MSP to SFO and MEM back to IAH. I hope i won't get on a DC-9 with a hole in the wall.

Al

I fly Northwest quite a bit, as a Continental Elite. There are some very good things about this airline and some very negative things. I enjoy flying their old DC-10s and DC-9s. There are also numerous great employees at the airline. Yes, on the whole, I prefer Continental. I'd say Northwest is neither "Northworst" nor "Northbest."

Specific highlights:
- Great Pacific network
- Comfortable WorldClub lounges
- A good number of widebody aircraft
- Low fare leader among the majors and the availability of numerous discounts, including the Entertainment coupon
- Good frequent flyer program
- Nice facilities at MSP
- Many great employees
- Improvements in World Business Class and Detroit's new Midfield Terminal on the way

Lowlights
- DTW in its current state
- Customer service issues
- NRT terminal needs renovation
- Cybersaver fares earn no miles
- Poor domestic first class product, especially catering

TransWorldOne - absolutely agree! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

SMESSIER, you said, "cyber-shouting: Northwest and loser airline, and calling it a crappy and crummy product, based on three flights."
1) I'm not shouting. I'm typing. In the english language, capitals can be used for emphisis. I am not a computer geek and don't live by their millions of acronms and rules.
2) Northwest IS a loser airline. It's cheap because it has to be. People fly this airline because they have limited geographic choices. Look at the whole group of customer satisfaction stats and you will find the NWA is not the big favorite.
3) Your facts about me only flying three flights are well...completely wrong. I have flown over 70 flights on NWA in the last 18 months. I am elite on NW. I just don't mention it in my profile as it is not something to be proud of.
4) And if I slander your airline of choice because they put out a terrible product (the condition of the planes) on three out of my FOUR (didn't mention the nice a320 because it had no faults) flights. Well deal with it. You can't deny that the age of these planes are VERY old and the industry as a whole has nicer more modern planes. Look at Doc's post about the 747-100. One day it's flying for NW the next day heading for a museum. That is a fact. It's also a fact that NW chose to be the LAST United States airline to fly them. Want to bet who retires the last DC-9??? Bottom line, I didn't make them fly a plane in that condition. It was their choice. People judge a book by its cover. You can fly dirty old planes (TWA,DELTA) or you can clean and paint the same old planes (UA). Do you think UA would fly a 727 with a hole in the wall in first class?
I will concide in the spirit of fairness that NWA is really two airlines. The international portion is quite good and very nice. It's the domestic that still stinks...

Ah, you're not getting upset, are you cigarman? I mean, it's not like I asked about CO upgrades or tri color pasta? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Online, all caps is considered shouting - I'm no PC nerd either by the way. I thought that bold and italics were commonly used for emphasis "in the English language."

I don't mind that you talk trash about NW - I was simply explaining what Phil was trying to say, which it seems you chose to dismiss out of hand.

I know, and would be happier if it were not the case, that many, many NW planes are very, very old.

I only brought up the 3 flights issue because you mentioned 3 flights. I apologize for the error. The idea that you would not list NW Elite in your profile because you're embarassed - that's just funny.

Many people choose to fly this airline. Your suggestion that only people that have to do so is plain nonsense.

I don't know if UA would fly with a hole in the wall in FC. I sure hope they wouldn't. I guess I'll ask some UA employees next time I see some, as they're the ones who fly there based on what I see on the UA boards.

Many of us who fly NW by choice recognize the problems the airline has, are in fact more than willing to recognize those, yet try to have some balanced view of NW. I don't see you making any attempt to do so - except for that nice last sentence, which I can't quite reconcile with your assertion that NW is a "loser" airline.

If I were in your position, I would certainly complain both to NW and the FAA about what you saw. I hope you will, and I assure you that I am all too familiar with the many shortcomings of NW. But I can also assure you that I am able to deal with someone I know nothing about "slandering" my airline of choice.



[This message has been edited by SMessier (edited 10-20-2000).]

A NW employee (gate agent at MEM) told me on Tuesday that they would be retiring the last of their 727’s by year’s end. With that said, there is absolutely no reason for NW to allow their aircraft to fall apart before customer’s eyes…

Personally, I don’t mind flying on an “old” NW DC-9. Many Boeing engineers have told me that the DC-9 is one of the most “over-engineered” aircraft flying today. When Douglas put the original plans together; they made one sturdy bird. As for the customer experience, NW has added new interiors to most of the DC-9’s in the fleet. No complaints here…

If you don’t like NW, don’t fly them. If you don’t like them, but fly them anyway, don’t complain…you asked for it.



------------------
"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."

--Vice President Al Gore