Northwest Orient Airlines System Map
Cartographer:
Anonymous
Date of Creation:
1947-1949
Pictorial route map for Northwest Orient Airlines, issued between 1947, when NWA began flying to Tokyo, Seoul, Manila, and Shanghai, and 1949 when they suspended flights to Shanghai (See Northwest Airlines History Center for similar route maps of the period).
Northwest Airlines was founded on September 1, 1926, by Colonel Lewis Brittin, under the name Northwest Airways. Like other early US airlines, Northwest's focus was not flying passengers, but in hauling mail for the U.S. Post Office Department. The airline was originally based in Detroit, Michigan, but was purchased by Minnesota investors in 1929, and operations moved to St. Paul's. Once transpacific flights were established, Northwest began branding as Northwest Orient Airlines between 1947 and 1986 although its registered corporate name remained "Northwest Airlines".