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Freeway access to Detroit Metropolitan Airport is first rate, as is the new McNamara Terminal/Northwest WorldGateway. This is where my trip begins. Arrival is smooth (dropped off by friends at the departure level). Off to the Northwest domestic economy ticket counters. There we stand in a line that is fairly short for at LEAST 35 minutes. Ok, I guess I can deal with that. After all, I live in Detroit, I should be used to the Northwest employees at DTW (which dont usually seem to care much about their jobs). Annnnnyways, I reach the ticket counter and am assigned seat 10A. Not bad I think. Security is a breeze, and before I know it, I arrive at gate A47... the customary 2 hours early. I pull out the Car and Driver and wait for boarding. The gate agent began offering First Class upgrades for 25 dollars each so I took it. Not bad. Assigned seat 4-A.
Northwest 477
DTW-ATL
9:15p-10:55p (early arrival)
DC9-31 N959N (old colors)
As we preboard First Class the steward takes my coat and I take seat 4A. No pre-departure beverages today, and 20 or so minutes later those two JT8D's roared to life with a powerback from A47 for an on-time departure. A short taxi to the runway and we're airborne. Clear skies allow great views of nighttime Detroit and Toledo. After we reached our crusing altitude of 31,000 feet the First cabin steward came around with beverages (real glass) and the "upgraded" snack (a choice of almonds OR Northwest's trademark "spinzels".) I felt so civilised. HA. The cabin was standard Northwest DC9 fare (thinny seats that offered no REAL support, 717 style bins and cieling). Everything was clean, no signs of wear. The flight was smooth (I actually slept through most of it). Arrival into The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (as they call it now, apparently) was effortless, except for the fact that the entire airport seemed to be overheated. A quick train ride from the D concourse put is in bag claim, where the Atlanta Airport Hilton shuttle was waiting. All in all, quite an easy jaunt.
A week later its time to return to Detroit. I check in online for Northwest 472, taking seat 5B (bulkhead seat). Not bad at all. We arrive at ATL SEVEN HOURS before scheduled departure (this is due to the fact that we drove from Sarasota, FL to catch this plane.. We also grossly miscalculated the travel time from Sarasota to ATL.) Approach the ticket counter and get put on standby for Northwest 468, a 1:57p departure for Detroit-Metro. Off to security and gate D16 in that still-overheated Atlanta Airport. Take a seat at D16 in Northwest's little "quadrant" of 4 gates at ATL. This area is dingy. The seating looks like it came from the OLD Detroit-Metro. Not too nice, but I didnt seem to notice on the arrival, probably because I was ready to get the hell out of there. NW468 looks quite full, but just as the door is closing, the gate agent (Karen) gets me on the plane with seat 26B. Fantastic!
Northwest 468
ATL-DTW
2:00p-3:31p (On-Time)
DC9-51 N778NC (New Colors)
Im one of the last ones on the plane and I take my seat, 26B, in the last row of this DC9-51. How fantastic, its last row.. You know the seats. Bathrooms behind, engines aside, and nothing else. One interesting thing about these seats is the ability to hear the entire startup sequence of the JT8D's quite loudly. Its actually impressive. Pushback and takeoff uneventful, if extremely loud. Im glad to be getting into Detroit hours ahead of my planned flight. So here I am, last row (and Im no stranger to these seats), dying of noise, vibration, and the endless train of lav users. Oh well. I whip out a book and read my way to Detroit. Somewhere in there I get my plastic cup of Canada Dry (with way too much ice) and one packet of Spinzels. They dont skimp on Northwest obviously, because the lavish keep-the-whole-can policy was NOT in effect today. The aircraft was clean, and lav odor was actually not too bad. Arrival in Detroit was uneventful, but smooth (nice). We taxi to gate A26 and I wait 25 minutes to get out of the back-o-the-bus. Restrooms here I come. Four A330's were lined up at DTW today, taking on pax for various destinations. Very impressive site. A short ride down the escalator brings us to the bag claim level, and since I had no luggage, I proceeded to locate my ride outside.
All in all I think Northwest did quite a good job. I was especially impressed with the fact that Karen got me on NW468. Besides the lazy-ass DTW ticketing staff, it was a great experience.
Questions or comments are welcome, thank you for reading this report.
Bob
Northwest 477
DTW-ATL
9:15p-10:55p (early arrival)
DC9-31 N959N (old colors)
As we preboard First Class the steward takes my coat and I take seat 4A. No pre-departure beverages today, and 20 or so minutes later those two JT8D's roared to life with a powerback from A47 for an on-time departure. A short taxi to the runway and we're airborne. Clear skies allow great views of nighttime Detroit and Toledo. After we reached our crusing altitude of 31,000 feet the First cabin steward came around with beverages (real glass) and the "upgraded" snack (a choice of almonds OR Northwest's trademark "spinzels".) I felt so civilised. HA. The cabin was standard Northwest DC9 fare (thinny seats that offered no REAL support, 717 style bins and cieling). Everything was clean, no signs of wear. The flight was smooth (I actually slept through most of it). Arrival into The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (as they call it now, apparently) was effortless, except for the fact that the entire airport seemed to be overheated. A quick train ride from the D concourse put is in bag claim, where the Atlanta Airport Hilton shuttle was waiting. All in all, quite an easy jaunt.
A week later its time to return to Detroit. I check in online for Northwest 472, taking seat 5B (bulkhead seat). Not bad at all. We arrive at ATL SEVEN HOURS before scheduled departure (this is due to the fact that we drove from Sarasota, FL to catch this plane.. We also grossly miscalculated the travel time from Sarasota to ATL.) Approach the ticket counter and get put on standby for Northwest 468, a 1:57p departure for Detroit-Metro. Off to security and gate D16 in that still-overheated Atlanta Airport. Take a seat at D16 in Northwest's little "quadrant" of 4 gates at ATL. This area is dingy. The seating looks like it came from the OLD Detroit-Metro. Not too nice, but I didnt seem to notice on the arrival, probably because I was ready to get the hell out of there. NW468 looks quite full, but just as the door is closing, the gate agent (Karen) gets me on the plane with seat 26B. Fantastic!
Northwest 468
ATL-DTW
2:00p-3:31p (On-Time)
DC9-51 N778NC (New Colors)
Im one of the last ones on the plane and I take my seat, 26B, in the last row of this DC9-51. How fantastic, its last row.. You know the seats. Bathrooms behind, engines aside, and nothing else. One interesting thing about these seats is the ability to hear the entire startup sequence of the JT8D's quite loudly. Its actually impressive. Pushback and takeoff uneventful, if extremely loud. Im glad to be getting into Detroit hours ahead of my planned flight. So here I am, last row (and Im no stranger to these seats), dying of noise, vibration, and the endless train of lav users. Oh well. I whip out a book and read my way to Detroit. Somewhere in there I get my plastic cup of Canada Dry (with way too much ice) and one packet of Spinzels. They dont skimp on Northwest obviously, because the lavish keep-the-whole-can policy was NOT in effect today. The aircraft was clean, and lav odor was actually not too bad. Arrival in Detroit was uneventful, but smooth (nice). We taxi to gate A26 and I wait 25 minutes to get out of the back-o-the-bus. Restrooms here I come. Four A330's were lined up at DTW today, taking on pax for various destinations. Very impressive site. A short ride down the escalator brings us to the bag claim level, and since I had no luggage, I proceeded to locate my ride outside.
All in all I think Northwest did quite a good job. I was especially impressed with the fact that Karen got me on NW468. Besides the lazy-ass DTW ticketing staff, it was a great experience.
Questions or comments are welcome, thank you for reading this report.
Bob
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