Aviation enthusiasts worldwide have been asking one very important question in the last several months. What Northwest aircraft will be painted first in Delta colors? Here's the answer from the Minneapolis Star Tribune. We've answered the who, now all we need is the when!

The biggest airplane in Northwest Airlines' fleet -- a Boeing 747-400 -- will be the first aircraft to be painted in the red-white-and-blue color scheme of Delta Air Lines, which acquired Northwest last week.
And they will look like this:


Photo credit: Jetabout

And not like Delta's first B747 from about 1970:


UPDATE: Well a little bit of addition digging tells me that the first 747-400 will be all painted up by December 12. The aircraft (reg. unknown) will be painted in Victorville, CA and other Northwest planes will be painted in Mississippi.

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Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:58:15 +0000

The biggest airplane in Northwest Airlines' fleet -- a Boeing 747-400 -- will be the first aircraft to be painted in the red-white-and-blue color scheme of Delta Air Lines, which acquired Northwest last week. (see photo below)

Getting the right airplane on the right route is one of the bedrock elements of the Delta-Northwest merger, which will create the world's largest airline.

Delta executives did not disclose the routes that will be affected by the fleet changes. But Glen Hauenstein, a Delta executive vice president, said the ability to move planes to where they are needed is the "key driver" in reaching the merger's financial goals. Delta executives have said they expect the combination will yield about $1 billion in annual cost savings and $1 billion in new revenue.

"Northwest wide-body planes are probably too big for the markets they serve," said Hauenstein. The 747, which seats 403 passengers, is one of Northwest's twin-aisle or "wide-body planes" and it is expected to be flown on some of Delta's routes next year. One possibility is operating 747s on an Atlanta-Tokyo route. Delta's largest hub is in Atlanta, while Northwest has a major hub in Tokyo.

"It will take some time to migrate the brand," Delta CEO Richard Anderson said in an interview. But he added that Northwest customers will begin to see changes in the coming months, such as the addition of blue leather seats on Northwest planes and the appearance of Delta's food offerings on Northwest flights.

But Anderson and his management team are particularly intent on achieving the financial benefits that they believe will be produced by blending the fleets of Delta and Northwest. Hauenstein said that Delta's largely Boeing fleet is heavily weighted toward large single-aisle planes and small twin-aisle planes. In contrast, he said, Northwest's Boeing and Airbus fleet is dominated by small single-aisle planes and big twin-aisle jets. When you merge the fleets you get "planes as small as 100 seats and as big as 400 seats and pretty much everything in between," he said.

For some time, Hauenstein said, the airline industry viewed fleet simplification as a smart business choice, because having a small number of plane types can reduce maintenance and pilot training costs.

But he argues that standardization comes at a high price.

"It also drives a lot of revenue inefficiencies in that you can't tailor capacity to demand," he said. Instead, Delta is striving for a flexible fleet.

The first 747 will get its makeover in Victorville, Calif., and reenter service Dec. 12, Anthony Black, a Delta spokesman, said Friday. Northwest's entire fleet is set to be repainted in Delta's color scheme within two years.

By summer 2009, the first 20 to 30 airplanes from the Delta and Northwest fleets will be swapped, said Hauenstein, who oversees network planning and revenue management at Delta. If a Northwest 747 is moved onto a Delta route, a Delta 777 might be substituted in its place. A Delta 777 is configured with 268 to 276 seats.

Hauenstein said that Delta plans to phase in more plane swaps after the summer season, but it is moving cautiously because management wants to provide a smooth transition for customers.

Northwest and Delta have only one plane type in common, the single-aisle Boeing 757.

Together, but still separate - Delta and Northwest pilots started working on a combined labor contract Oct. 30. But the Federal Aviation Administration is not expected to permit Delta and Northwest to combine their flight operations until late 2009 or early 2010. However, the new Delta can move ahead to redeploy its planes on a combined route network.

Until the merger is completed, Northwest pilots and flight attendants will continue to fly on the Northwest aircraft that are shifted to some Delta routes. The reverse is true of Delta pilots who'll be operating Delta planes on Northwest routes.

Delta plans to place Northwest planes on some Delta routes before labor union representation issues are resolved. But Steve Gorman, Delta's chief operating officer, said Delta will honor Northwest's labor contracts during this transition period.

Consequently, he said, Northwest's unionized flight attendants will keep working on Northwest planes.

If a Northwest plane flies on a Delta route, Northwest ground workers will serve that flight if the plane lands at an airport where Northwest workers are employed. Northwest's airport workers are represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Delta's flight attendants and ground workers are not union members.

Since the merger deal was consummated Oct. 29, Delta and Northwest executives have been moving quickly to add their codes to each other's flights. By blending both route networks, the new Delta will offer flights to more than 375 worldwide cities in 66 countries. Northwest brought its joint venture partner, KLM, to the merger, while Delta has a similar business arrangement with Air France.

Hauenstein said the merger and Air France linkage will generate more passengers for the Twin Cities-Paris route.

In June, Northwest announced that it would suspend daily service to Paris from Oct. 1 through late March of next year. High fuel prices hurt demand for the flight, which was launched in April.

Hauenstein envisions a brighter future for the route because of the passengers who'll flow through the Air France and KLM hubs. He said, "I would be shocked if we weren't able to make [the Twin Cities-Paris route] work year-round."

Didn't expect to leave on a disability pension at age 48 from NWA, but sure glad to be out of that mess now.

Pretty plane, now if Delta could just figure out how to get people from point A to point B on time and not bash the luggage to pieces. Nice merger of two under-achievers.

I must have flown over two dozen carriers, domestic and international, during my 39 year career, but none of them managed to lose my baggage, destroy my baggage, depart late for flights causing unscheduled overnights, lose my guns, and generally cause me as much intense discomfort as Northwest did.

The last time I returned from a horrific Northwest experience after deer hunting in Saskatchewan, I called them up and told them that, if I ever had the good luck to return to Saskatchewan deer hunting again, I would drive my Ford F-150 pickup from central Florida to Carrot River and back before I ever got aboard one of their aircraft again. And I wasn't kidding.

I commuted on Delta a lot, and only once in many, many years did I arrive at a gate on time. Ten minutes late was the standard.

Now that I am retired, I rarely fly anymore. I'm heading to Tanzania in July on Delta/KLM. I am buying trip insurance. I'm not sweating the KLM leg.

I only hope that Northwest's almost complete disregard for their passengers' comfort, appetites and personal effects will disappear under new management.

They also have a 757 painted also. It left here this morning for there daily anc/minny flight.

It was wierd seeing a delta 57 on a NWA jetway.

First DC-9 with Delta paint scheme:






Note the notation on the fuselage: "Operated by Northwest Airlines, Inc."

I also believe they have a A320 done.

I have flown that DC9-50! Glad to be gone

And jetdrvr: The NWA motto was always; were not happy, until your not happy.

my job requires me to airline around the U.S. about 6 times per month. Without doubt, NW is the worst airline in the us of a. Only US Air PHL can equal the NW low level of service. Good Luck with this one Delta!

Well I have to say that they ALL suck now days. I rode Delta to South Africa on my way to Harare last May. I was ready to kill by the time I got out of economy after 23 hours. All of these SOB's have tighter seat pitch on international routes than they do on domestic routes.

Every F'n airline CEO should be forced to ride in the worst seats on every route they fly. That seat pitch crap would change in a hurry.

quote:

Every F'n airline CEO should be forced to ride in the worst seats on every route they fly. That seat pitch crap would change in a hurry.