i U a ai ^se? 00 ^be^5- ^ ' O /ets V \J.S- N'sa twi5".e''c&`>fM Nss t- ceC v\ces pep^ y a ai SCC MateC' kno^* S naU,ons ' o-r-ZSZ**-''-'-"" Bf'6^e odin g, c TAKEN FROM LETTERS TO NORTHWEST AIRLINES TO SHAREHOLDERS Year ended June 30,1944 DIRECTORS S. M. ARCHER, Chairman CROIL HUNTER T. E. IRVINE K. R. FERGUSON A. E. FLOAN R. M. HARDY JOSEPH T. JOHNSON L. M. LEFFINGWELL WILLIAM STERN EDWIN WHITE E. I. WHYATT OFFICERS CROIL HUNTER ------- President E. I. WHYATT - - Vice President and Treasurer K. R. FERGUSON - - Vice President--Operatio7is A. E. FLOAN ------- Secretary L. S. HOLSTAD . . . . -Assistant Treasurer CAMILLE L. STEIN . . . . Assistant Secretary General Offices: 1885 University Avenue, St. Paul 4, Minnesota The Chase National Bank of The City of New York, New York City. Principal Registrar Bankers Trust Company, New York City Principal Transfer Agent City National Bank and Trust Company of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois Co-Registrar Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois Co-Transfer Agent Annual meeting of shareholders last Monday in September. I N THE LAST YEAR your company has entered an unparalleled period in its history. It is approaching the final phases of its exten sive war activities and, strengthened beyond measure by the ex perience gained in carrying out these responsibilities, it has set in mo tion the machinery for the broad expansion of its commercial routes. We stand on the threshold of unigue opportunity. The airplane has become a symbol of power in the minds of all the world. No single ele ment in the conduct of the war has had so great an influence, and none will bear more directly on the building of a prosperous and lasting peace for all nations. On the following pages, the story of your company's commercial and war activities in the last year is presented. We look forward with eagerness and confidence to the new year, determined to complete our part in achieving a speedy victory and to build on the results of the past a brighter future. St. Paul, Minnesota October 9, 1944 President and General Manager COMMER/IAL mm ACTIVITIES FORMER ARMY PLANE BEFORE CONVERSION INTERIOR OF PLANE WHEN TURNED OVER TO NWA T HE LAST YEAR has seen many sig nificant developments in the commer cial airline activities of your company, notably the completion of pre-hearing con ferences and final hearings on several of our route applications, the acquisition of six Army aircraft to replace those requisitioned by the Army from the company in the fiscal year 1942, the addition of three daily round trips between Chicago and the Pacific North west and four local trips between Chicago and the Twin Cities, and the acquisition or remodeling of ticket offices and the plan ning of others to strengthen our expanded sales organization. This has been a historic year for North west Airlines. The natural expansion of your company has been continued, and we now enter the new year with the inviting pros pect of seeing the achievement of our most immediate goal, the extension of our com mercial routes into New York. Final hearing on our application for this extension was conducted before the Civil Aeronautics Board in February, 1944, and a decision is expected from the Board be fore the end of 1944. We await that decision with the encouragement of the Board's examiners' report, which vigorously supported our case and recommended that the application be granted. Upon this de cision will depend, in large measure, the course of our future. If the certificate is granted, as we believe it will be, your com pany is prepared to begin operations into Detroit, Cleveland and New York promptly. Hearings also have been completed on Northwest's application for routes to Hono lulu from the co-terminals of Portland and Seattle, and briefs are now in preparation. Pre-hearing conferences on the West AFTER CONVERSION AND READY FOR NWA SERVICE Coast applications were held April 27, 1944, with the final hearings tentatively set for November 1 of this year. The preliminary conferences on the North and Central Paci fic applications, including Northwest's pro posed routes to Asia, were held September 15, 1944. These proceedings represent the begin ning of your company's actions to weave together a 30,000-mile network of routes, serving the industrial East, the great agri cultural empire of the Northwest, the in creasingly important Pacific gateways of the Seattle-Portland area, Honolulu, Alaska and the nations of the Orient which are certain to emerge from the ravaging war as almost unlimited markets for American business and culture. The broadening of our commercial service during the last year has resulted chiefly from the acquisition of six Army aircraft of the DC-3 type and the conversion of these planes to NWA standards. The present fleet con tains 13 DC-3s, the same number of that type operated by the company before the war. Conversion of the former Army aircraft was done by Northwest at the NWA Twin Cities Wold-Chamberlain airport base and the planes, now standard in every respect, have been put into regular service. The company has succeeded in achieving outstanding utilization of its aircraft during the difficult times when it was forced, by the needs of the military, to operate with only half of its normal fleet. Development of time-saving devices in the maintenance and overhaul of the aircraft and changes in methods and procedures have enabled Northwest to increase flying time to nearlv 13 hours per day per plane. WORKERS WATCH AS PLANE AWAITS FIRST FLIGHT Despite the fact that during- the last year your company operated with fewer than its normal complement of airplanes, loads of mail, express and passengers have increased, with reports showing- several all-time month ly records. The following figures represent the extent of service provided by Northwest in the fis cal year just ended: 5,501,672 revenue miles; 4,611,411,451 pound-miles of mail; 1,007,- 198,896 pound-miles of express; 84,718,273 revenue passenger miles. The revenue pas senger load factor for the fiscal year was 85.17 per cent, the performance factor 96.73 per cent and the number of revenue passen gers carried was 122,521. A table on page 23 shows comparative figures since the be ginning of our operation. Frequency of service to virtually all sta tions on the NWA system was increased during the year as a result of the acquisition of the Army aircraft and the greater utiliza tion of all our planes. On July 1, 1943, Northwest was operating two transconti nental round trips between Chicago and Seattle, one trip between Chicago and Win nipeg and two local flights between Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Since that date increases have been made so that five trips are now operated between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest, plus seven local trips be tween Chicago and the Twin Cities, making 12 in all, including the Chicago-Winnipeg flight. Service was resumed into Yakima, W ash., in June of this year and into Port land, Ore., in August, with three flights be tween Portland and Spokane operating as segments of the transcontinental flights and in effect giving Portland three transconti nental daily round trips. To accommodate this increase in business and in anticipation of greater needs in the new expansion period the city ticket office at Fargo was remodeled and enlarged, the ticket office at Seattle was remodeled and the Portland ticket office is being enlarged and remodeled and will be opened before the end of 1944. Northwest also opened for the first time a street-floor ticket office on hifth Avenue in New York. Work is now nearing completion on a new city ticket office in Chicago, at Monroe street and Mich igan avenue, which will give your company one of the largest and most modernly-equip- ped transportation offices in the country. The former Motor Power Equipment building at 2303 1 Yrd Parkway in St. Paul, Minn., has recently been purchased and re modeling work has already been started to provide a centralized unit parts overhaul base of sufficient capacity to handle a threc to four-fold expansion of overhaul activity and yet representing an immediate saving in operation costs over existing scattered shop operation. The construction of main base shops and executive offices must wait until war building restrictions are lifted, until a site can be selected, and until the ex tent and direction of our expansion is more clearly defined. In anticipation of the expansion of our commercial routes, all possible steps have been taken to improve maintenance and op erating equipment. Communication facili ties have been substantially improved bv the installation of new and modern equip ment in the radio stations at Seattle, Chi cago, Billings, Fargo, Miles City and Port land, and by the installation of a 24-hour private line teletype system serving everv NWA station. Construction of a new radio station at Milwaukee is now being planned. In October 1943, personnel of vour com- pany, engaged in both commercial airline and military projects, reached an all-time high of more than 10,000 as compared with 881 immediately before the war. Elimina tion of some of our military projects and im proved efficiency obtained from personnel as a result of broad experience has brought a reduction in personnel to approximately 6,500 as of September 1 of this vear. FUTURE HOME OF NWA MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES IN TWIN CITIES IS THIS MODERN STRUCTURE ACTIVITIES N ORTHWEST AIRLINES has carried on extensive war activities for our government in the last year, expanding the operations in some of these and completing our assignments in three others. The results of this emergency work have already been made clear to us all in the prog ress our country has made in prosecuting the war. What more we can contribute, we are prepared to give. Your company has gained for itself, in impor tant measure, a store of experiences which have helped us prepare for new expansion of our com mercial activities and will continue to aid us when our airline plans are developed into realities. MAIL, CARGO AND MILITARY PERSONNEL ARE FLOWN NORTH BY NWA A LONG THE MILITARY cargo routes of your company's Northern Region, ..m- pjgh priority cargo, military per sonnel and mail are daily being flown by Northwest Airlines pilots in fulfillment of our obligation as an arm of the national defense. The importance of Alaska and the Aleu tian Islands in our country's operations against Japan is now evident to all; they constitute a major cornerstone in our mili tary structure, and the supplying of those far-north bases has been and is continuing to be a task of front-rank importance. Our pilots have carried on a unique oper ation in the north, since much of the pioneer ing of these routes was their responsibility. In the last year, we have continued the smooth operation of the inland military ARMY AIR FORCES HEADQUARTERS ALASKAN WING STATION NO. 1, AIR TRANSPORT COMMAND Northwest Airlines, Inc. St. Paul, Minnesota Gentlemen : 1. I have just read your initial report of the Aleutian Chain operation. 2. It is my desire to commend in the highest manner, the personnel connected with this operation. The efficiency of oper ation indicated, knowing as I do the general conditions of the Aleutian Chain, clearly indicates that the personnel involved have carried out a superior performance of flying under most difficult conditions. Such flying requires a constant study, evaluation and knowledge of conditions encountered at few, if any other parts of the globe. By such performance it would appear that an entire new phase of operations under such condi tions has been developed. Certainly the percentage of flights performed would not have been performed a few months past. 3. Please see that this expression of ap preciation is forwarded to the individuals concerned, ground crews as well as air crews, and with the further expression that it is my sincere hope that a good start indi cates a continuation of what may be termed superb performance of a hazardous oper ation. /s/ D. V. GAFFNEY Brig. General, U. S. A. Commanding routes, carrying supplies from the United States through northwestern Canada to Alaska, and in addition, we have inaugu rated an entirely new military operation on the islands of the Aleutian chain. In January of this year a route from Anchorage, Alaska, to Adak on the Chain was established by the Alaskan Wing, Air Transport Command, AAF. This route has been operated with outstanding success by NORTHERN REGION your company, under contract to the Army. Operations have since been extended to Attn, 1,600 miles out on the Chain and only 2,063 miles from Tokyo. Day and night, against difficult weather conditions, our pilots have carried mail to American soldiers and sailors and have hauled in high priority cargo and military personnel, averaging two round trips per day. By the resourcefulness and skill of all who have contributed to this operation, your company has succeeded in establishing de pendable mail service to the islands, a sig nificant achievement in view of the fact that previously it had sometimes required weeks for the trip from Anchorage to Adak. Operation of the new line posed unique problems and required special training, in cluding study of all weather recordings kept by the Army and Navy for all years past and analysis of what weather to expect at each season of the year. A system of alter nating pilot crews when possible on the reg ular commercial routes and the Aleutian routes was adopted in order that each pilot might be given an opportunity to gain in valuable experience in the unusual conditions of the north. Virtually the entire length of the 1,600- mile Aleutian chain route is now being flown on instruments, an achievement once be lieved impossible. The operation is now be ing conducted with 15 airplanes and indica tions are it will remain at this level. That the Army has placed a high value on your company's far-north operations is evi dent in the letter, reprinted in this section, from Brigadier General D. V. Gaffney, com manding the Alaskan Wing of the ATC. Much of the activity now being carried on by Northwest Airlines on its Northern Region is of a restricted nature and cannot be disclosed in this report. We have played a major role in advancing the military plans of our country in the north, and with each day's work we have gained experience. More than anything else, we have pieced together, from the experiences of pilots and all con cerned, a clearer picture of these new re gions where your company proposes to fly commercially when the war emergency is ended. We will apply the lessons of our experi ences to the tasks that lie ahead in the new expansion of your company. EXPANSIVENESS OF `FLYING BOXCARS' ON NORTH ROUTES IS SHOWN HERE NORTHWEST'S ALEUTIANS ROUTE SERVES ARMY BASE AT ADAK TWO MAJESTIC PEAKS ON THE ALEUTIANS MILITARY ROUTE MODIFICATION CENTER O NE OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS of your company to the war effort of the nation is now being* dramatically demonstrated as the war in Europe draws to an end. Liberator bombers from North west Airlines' bomber modification center at St. Paul, Minn., have cleared the way for advancing- Allied troops in France, and the toll they have taken in smashing- assaults on German factories and military installations is now being felt in its full force. No figures can tell the story. There is no adequate way to evaluate the importance of this project except in the terms of precious lives saved as a result. The letter which we have reprinted in the next page makes this abundantly clear. Liberators from the St. Paul center now are operating in all theaters of war. In the last year more than 1,000 of these aircraft were modified at the center and delivered to the Army, and only last month delivery was made on the two-thousandth aircraft to be assigned to the project since its inception in the early months of 1942. 1 hese are records of which we may be proud. They have been made in the face of difficult Army quotas which have not only been met but, in each of the last five months, have been exceeded. Despite the fact that production has been increased, it has been possible to meet our quotas with reduced personnel. From a peak of more than 5,000 in September of last year, we have been able to reduce personnel to approximately 3,500 in September of this year, chiefly as a result of more efficient pro duction methods, better planning and a bet ter understanding by all of the job to be done. It must be taken into consideration, too, that proficiency of a large percentage of the workers has increased as a result of two years' experience in the handling of air craft. In the last year, more than 30 types of modifications were completed at the project and delivered to the Army. This work fell AN ASSEMBLY LINE IN ONE OF THE HUGE HANGARS B-24 BOMBERS AWAIT TURN ON MODIFICATION LINES into four different major classifications: camera aircraft, cargo aircraft, straight bombing aircraft and training aircraft. On all of these assignments the center worked from general directives and, beyond that, all engineering and mockup work was accom plished at the project itself. The modification center, along with others of the same general type, has played an exceedingly important part in supplying the war theaters with up-to-date aircraft with a minimum of delays. Airplanes are flown from factories to the center where they are equipped with the desired armor plate, arma ment and safety devices. When the changing methods of warfare require new devices, they are provided at the modification center until such time as the factories can handle the changes without slowing down production. In successfully carrying out these assign ments, the St. Paul center has made a sig- nihcant contribution to the war effort which has led our nation toward victory. As in all our war projects, your company has gained for itself a broad experience in the many phases of this extensive operation. It is impossible to foresee the extent of operations at the St. Paul center in the next year, since obviously the need for aircraft will depend upon the progress of the war in both the European and Pacific theaters. It is possible that when action ceases in one major war area, planes from that theater will be returned to the United States for further modification and then reassigned to other war zones. WHEELS GO UP ON B-24 LIBERATOR AS VISITORS WATCH THIS TAKEOFF HEADQUARTERS ARMY AIR FORCES WASHINGTON Northwest Airlines St. Paul Modification Center St. Paul, Minnesota Gentlemen : At this time, I wish to commend all per sonnel at your Center who have been con nected in any capacity with the B-24 H2X program. By consistently meeting your schedules for the past several months, you have made a material contribution to the success of many overseas operations. Many more gold stars would be in the windows of American homes if it had not been for the supply "in time and enough'' instead of "too little and too late'' of the B-24's modified at your Center and used on D-Day to clear the Normandy beaches. Your performance is a splendid example of what is being done by the civilians at home to "back the attack" by providing the right weapons at the right time. May you continue to maintain your commendable production rate. Yours very truly, /s/ E. M. Powers Brigadier General, U. S. A. Deputy Asst. Chief of Air Staff Materiel and Services EXPERT MECHANICS ARE THESE WOMEN, RECRUITED AND TRAINED BY NWA PROJECTS aL (RsMOhck. P ERSONNEL of this project lias been increased to 110 in the last year and expanded operations have made it necessary to move into larger quarters in the large Air Transport Command hangar at the edge of the Twin Cities Wold-Chamberlain airport, Minneapolis. Additional airplanes also have been based at the project, and the scope of research being carried on to circumvent crippling icing condi tions on military aircraft has been extensively broadened. 1 he project has been changed from an independent project under jurisdiction of the ATC to an operational base under Wright Field. The full story of this project, to which your company is contributing mechanics, engineers and pilots, can only be told when the war is ended, but the results have already begun to be evident in some present and all future aircraft design. (phaciftiicdum, SiatuL I N THE LAST YEAR the precipitation static program has been housed in a new half-million-dollar plant built by the Navy at the Twin Cities Wold-Chamberlain air port, Minneapolis. Northwest is continuing to supply mechan ics, engineers and pilots to this project, at which research is conducted to eliminate static which develops when planes are flown through moisture, dust storms and dry snow, blocking out communications and navigation signals. Activities are now in full swing and will continue, not only for the dura tion of the war, but probably for years afterward. The value of this work to military and postwar commercial aircraft is inestimable. N OR I I IW ES F AIRLINES has continued through the last year to furnish flight personnel for Army con tract work assigned to the aeronautical division of the Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator company, engaged in de\ elopment and manufacture of electronic control systems for aii craft. Nearly all of the work carried on at this project is of a restricted nature and cannot be detailed here. Aircraft equipment developed at the project is of extremely high prior ity and importance to the Army Air Forces and will fit well into the postwar commercial aircraft picture. O N OCTOBER 31, 1943, Northwest Airlines completed operation of the Airmen's Transition Training Pro gram for the Air Transport Command at the NWA base at Billings, Mont. The work was undertaken in Febru ary of that year and a total of more than 700 Army men were trained in all phases of the operation of the large transport aircraft. Along with the training of pilots, your company as signed experts to train Army men in complimentary work as radio operators, radio mechanics and line mechanics. Count ing supervisors, the entire NWA staff devoted to the work of the school included 107 top men of the airline with approxi mately 25,000 man-hours contributed each month. For three months, Northwest conducted an Operational Training Unit program to co-ordinate functions of the complete transport crew. For a short time part of the mechanical training was conducted at the NWA Seattle base. Vflmn&apolidu- JfMjyweUL Cbimif J