My Grandmother worked for Northwest for a very long time. I grew up in the Twin Cities, and I distinctly remember driving past the airport and seeing the giant NWA logo emblazoned on the hanger facing the freeway. It was a very sad day to see NWA go, they are all my Family ever flew, and to this day, I refuse to get on a Delta flight.
I was a Civil Air Patrol cadet back in the late 70's and attending a flight training program and had a Northwest 747 Captain as my flight instructor. He was in the CAP and scheduled his vacation to participate. Your grandpa wasn't Art Brown was he? Wonder if they knew each other. Time flys.
The "half the world" part came from the fact that Northwest served North America, Asia, and Europe - half the inhabited continents of the world. At the time this commercial aired (around 1980), the only other US airlines that flew domestically and served three or more continents were Braniff, TWA, and Delta. Pan Am served all six inhabited continents, but couldn't fly domestic routes. United and American were strictly North America-centric airlines.
Dumpy? Well, the interiors of their B727-100s retained their original 24-seat First Class sections well in the late 1970s when I was with the company. They also still had the original PSUs, open package shelves and wall panels with little gold sparklies. But from a maintenance standpoint, Northwest aircraft were top notch. What is more, the company spent more per passenger on meal and beverage services than did any other carrier at the time.
Northwest Orient was the plane that introduced me to America. It transported me as an 11 yr old solo non-English speaking solo traveller from the Philippines to New York, USA. It was the vehicle that reunited me with my parents, sister, grandma, & aunt in '81. I distinctly remember that you can ask for playing cards to keep you entertained while in flight. Today, it's a luxury if airlines give you peanuts.
@MFfan310, Northwest was only just starting trans-Atlantic service when this ad was made. Its European expansion began in earnest through its extensive partnership with KLM.
My wife, daughter and myself flew on Northwest Orient to Seoul back in the day and we loved it. And by the way, I first got to meet the Korean 500 (in-laws that is) throughout the penninsula on Christmas and had a traditional Christmas New England dinner on a Coast Guard cutter and ironicallly, the crew all came from the Cape and Southeast.
You tube is amazing...You can find anything here. I was thinking of this jingle from almost 30 years ago and tried out you tube and sure enough this was it...
wow amazing I just briefly relived my child hood in the 1980s waiting for the price is right to come on cbs with this commercial, it use to air so much that I use to sing it at grocery stores for no apparent reason, anyways Thanks for sharing RIP Northwest 1926-2010
If they were still around to today you would have seen them with both A350-900 and B787-8s just like AA Partner JL does. In older advertisements they offered Newark to Manila via Minneapolis Anchorage & Tokyo Haneda.
MFfan, by North American-esque (as far as American and United flights), I assume you meant U.S., Canada, Mexico, and certain Central American and Caribbean countries; is that correct?
My first DC10, and first 757, and first and only 747 ride were with Northwest in the 80s. Don't recall ever seeing a NWO commercial in the LA area, only in printed ads.
After 1986 merger with Republic focus groups indicated the "Orient" was not received well, cultural sensitivity. Note we (in the USA) no longer refer to Asians as Oriental.
political correctness or incorrectness can be comedy in its own right sometimes though. aka there are no fat people theyre horizontally challenged. no short people aka vertically challenged. anyhoo back to subject at hand. I remember this commercial. I was 5 going on 6 when this aired.
The big downfall of Northwest which I suspect most people aren't aware of is their route network. While flying from Seattle to Tokyo was no big deal on Northwest, the return flight on Northwest would involve having to fly over most of Asia and continental Europe, not the most efficient routing by a long shot.
That's false. I flew the SEA-NRT route for a couple of decades as a NWA pilot and we never -- as in not once -- flew "over most of Asia and continental Europe" to "return" to the USA.
@@mynamehappy Northwest never polished anything. Those planes only looked good coming off the assembly line. Their planes were the dirtiest metal tubes in the sky.
The best livery they ever had!
My Grandmother worked for Northwest for a very long time. I grew up in the Twin Cities, and I distinctly remember driving past the airport and seeing the giant NWA logo emblazoned on the hanger facing the freeway. It was a very sad day to see NWA go, they are all my Family ever flew, and to this day, I refuse to get on a Delta flight.
I remember that hangar, too! And yeah, man... I've had to fly Delta a few times, but if I have a choice, they're near the bottom of my list.
Retired NW. I loved working for Northwest. I really do miss them.
I miss them too
@@thomasairways4661 well delta merged with northwest airlines
@@christophercota2862 and alot of nw culture is in delta too, unlike aa and twa
What did you do at northwest. My grandfather was an A&P for the I'm an A&P for delta now.
Worked for them for 17 years, I miss working for them to. Was a great job, and great people
My grandpa was a Northwest Orient pilot in the 70's and 80's.
My mom told me about this commercial so I looked it up. AMAZING.
No he wasn't, he was a janitor at my old school...😏
@@Bill-cv1xu good one
I was a Civil Air Patrol cadet back in the late 70's and attending a flight training program and had a Northwest 747 Captain as my flight instructor. He was in the CAP and scheduled his vacation to participate.
Your grandpa wasn't Art Brown was he? Wonder if they knew each other. Time flys.
Great footage of the incomparable Boeing 747 and the equally incomparable Douglas DC-10.
The "half the world" part came from the fact that Northwest served North America, Asia, and Europe - half the inhabited continents of the world.
At the time this commercial aired (around 1980), the only other US airlines that flew domestically and served three or more continents were Braniff, TWA, and Delta. Pan Am served all six inhabited continents, but couldn't fly domestic routes. United and American were strictly North America-centric airlines.
I wish Northwest Was still around
The late 70's & 80's before Checci & Wilson were our best years.
Dumpy? Well, the interiors of their B727-100s retained their original 24-seat First Class sections well in the late 1970s when I was with the company. They also still had the original PSUs, open package shelves and wall panels with little gold sparklies. But from a maintenance standpoint, Northwest aircraft were top notch. What is more, the company spent more per passenger on meal and beverage services than did any other carrier at the time.
The cove lights and the sparklies were the best. My favorite was the 720B 😏
Northwest Orient was the plane that introduced me to America. It transported me as an 11 yr old solo non-English speaking solo traveller from the Philippines to New York, USA. It was the vehicle that reunited me with my parents, sister, grandma, & aunt in '81. I distinctly remember that you can ask for playing cards to keep you entertained while in flight. Today, it's a luxury if airlines give you peanuts.
This jingle is now stuck in my head!
LUV'd this carrier > I continue to miss the REAL NW ORIENT ... such class (back then) and truly a delight to fly!
The gong was used in Northwest (Orient) Airlines ads from the 1950s until the early 1980s.
I was 5 years old when i took my first flight on a Northwest Orient DC10 from CHI to ANC ... man i miss them days...
Hahaha
An affluent 5 year old hasn't got a worry in the world
And it didn't crash! lol
@MFfan310, Northwest was only just starting trans-Atlantic service when this ad was made. Its European expansion began in earnest through its extensive partnership with KLM.
I love the gongs throughout the jingle. Very clever as it matches the word Orient.
My wife, daughter and myself flew on Northwest Orient to Seoul back in the day and we loved it. And by the way, I first got to meet the Korean 500 (in-laws that is) throughout the penninsula on Christmas and had a traditional Christmas New England dinner on a Coast Guard cutter and ironicallly, the crew all came from the Cape and Southeast.
My father Eldon Topp worked for them for many years. He said it was truly the best airline in the world 😌
Kind of sad how the merger went down.
Northwest had lots of loyal employees.
But in the end.....lots of them got fucked.
Takes me back to my childhood. Mahalo for the video! Aloha 🤙🏽
My 1st flight experience was on a NW plane in 1969. Wow ..
I liked flying the DC-10s from Detroit to Boston. Felt like an international flight for those 2 hours....
The wonderful days of regulated airlines. Nowadays you'd be lucky to fly a CRJ from Detroit to Boston.
You tube is amazing...You can find anything here. I was thinking of this jingle from almost 30 years ago and tried out you tube and sure enough this was it...
I was about to type the exact thing!
Same here! I also had those old Shasta soda jingles in my head and found them here.
Same! But I was looking for that jingle, "Northwest Orient...AIR-lines..The fan jet airline"...😀
amazing commercial !!!! Good old days
wow amazing I just briefly relived my child hood in the 1980s waiting for the price is right to come on cbs with this commercial, it use to air so much that I use to sing it at grocery stores for no apparent reason, anyways Thanks for sharing RIP Northwest 1926-2010
This 70s jingle is a real toe-tapper!
Seems like I was always on NW to Anchorage. Nice flights
If they were still around to today you would have seen them with both A350-900 and B787-8s just like AA Partner JL does. In older advertisements they offered Newark to Manila via Minneapolis Anchorage & Tokyo Haneda.
Half the world and great focus on their staff 😆
Flew nwo 747 from chi to anchorage to narita to manila then manila to narita to chii great service n food back 1979
I miss Northwest Airlines. Delta doesn't have the same customer care that Northwest had.
Hey look! It's Kim Hoedhashian's baby!
I heard the gong so many times but where is Long Duk Dong?
I think the gong would most likely be considered stereo-typically and politically incorrect by today's standards.
You watch too much Fox News.
I agree. There is a 0% chance it would be used today. It wouldn't be considered woke.
Steve Karmen strikes gold again!
The gongs on the music sounds like the jet engines in motion except at the end
MFfan, by North American-esque (as far as American and United flights), I assume you meant U.S., Canada, Mexico, and certain Central American and Caribbean countries; is that correct?
Hm, I wonder what the camera plane was. The shadow on the 747 looks like it belongs to a Lear 25 or 35.
+ErickC Probably Clay Lacy filming it
Yeah, I went looking through a book I have about aviation photography on a hunch, and there was a section on him and his Lears.
Usually it was a Learjet. Probably a 24/25 at the time of this filming.
Wow, great catch I totally missed that
never flew northwest orient was booked on one of their flights once but they were on strike and i got put on a united flight instead
My first DC10, and first 757, and first and only 747 ride were with Northwest in the 80s. Don't recall ever seeing a NWO commercial in the LA area, only in printed ads.
Great jingle remember it well. Now of course the "bong" is insulting to the Chinamen. Not to mention "Orient" in the company name.
@EricEbac22, Northwest Orient became Northwest shortly after its merger with Republic.
+John Eddy Do you know when that happened (what year)?
I believe it was 1987
lyrics?
Northwest Airlines crashing into the ground every day
When did Northwest Orient change their name back to simply Northwest?
Bankruptcy reorganization and merger with Republic.
After 1986 merger with Republic focus groups indicated the "Orient" was not received well, cultural sensitivity. Note we (in the USA) no longer refer to Asians as Oriental.
🤔 who will give me the other half of the world????
1988
I don’t think so. Northwest Orient ditched the ‘Orient’ at the end of the name in 1986 so it couldn’t be from 1988.
political correctness or incorrectness can be comedy in its own right sometimes though. aka there are no fat people theyre horizontally challenged. no short people aka vertically challenged. anyhoo back to subject at hand. I remember this commercial. I was 5 going on 6 when this aired.
If only the airline itself was a good as the jingle or the commercial :( They were always such a dumpy airline compared to the others.
Back when you could goto the Orient and see real "Orientals" w/ their gongs. :-/
The big downfall of Northwest which I suspect most people aren't aware of is their route network. While flying from Seattle to Tokyo was no big deal on Northwest, the return flight on Northwest would involve having to fly over most of Asia and continental Europe, not the most efficient routing by a long shot.
Wait, wouldn't the return flight be the other way across the Pacific? Why would they head West through Asia and Europe?
@@tiadaid it's in the airlines name Northwest - they could only fly Northwest 🤣
That's false. I flew the SEA-NRT route for a couple of decades as a NWA pilot and we never -- as in not once -- flew "over most of Asia and continental Europe" to "return" to the USA.
@@reinharthertz2526 I mean the airline was called northwest. Really limits the direction you can fly! 😂
This is racist towards Asian/Pacific Islander individuals.
I really hope you're being sarcastic.
Nope, sorry you are blind to your privilege.
Everything but the Girl Fan 76 "Stop it. Get some help." -Michael Jordan
If you want me to remove it I will.
Steven Spriggs Pls don't remove it.
Awful livery!
Good thing we don't care what you think.
I really like the livery. That polished metal belly is gorgeous, not something you see anymore.
@@mynamehappy Northwest never polished anything. Those planes only looked good coming off the assembly line. Their planes were the dirtiest metal tubes in the sky.
It is not awful.