What are the opening hours?

Thursday 11am - 2pm Friday 11am - 5pm

Northwest Airlines History Center

Home
United States
Bloomington, MN
Northwest Airlines History Center

Visit our Museum at the Crowne Plaza AIRE in Bloomington, MN near MSP Airport and the Mall of America

Our Mission: To preserve and display the memory of Northwest Airlines' exciting and colorful history.

06/01/2026

Play ball! It's the cover of the June 1, 1961 timetable for North Central, in front of that issue's route map. North Central had moved to Minneapolis just a few years earlier, and now the Minnesota Twins baseball team was their new neighbor! Convair 340s were making flying faster and more comfortable for the company's passengers, leading to substantial improvements in people flown and freight carried.

We have a new landing page for North Central, where you can read more company history and then explore schedules, aircraft, biographies, financial reports, brochures and more! Like Herman, fly on over to https://northwestairlineshistory.org/north-central/

05/26/2026

Route map and cover of the Hughes Airwest timetable for December 15, 1971. This issue introduced RW's bold new "Sundance" livery and corporate identity, created by industrial designer Mario Zamparelli.

Our new landing page for RW at https://northwestairlineshistory.org/hughes-airwest-air-west/ is your starting point to explore timetables and route maps, aircraft, financial reports, and employee newsletters!

Also check out our logo gear at our online shop while you're at our website. Your support through merchandise and memberships helps us keep telling the stories and expanding public awareness of the Air West family of carriers.

05/25/2026

Don't miss the boat! - The annual "RNPA Cruise" on the St. Croix River takes place Thursday, June 18th, departing from historic Stillwater, MN. Folks, family, and friends from NWA, Republic, Airlink, aviation suppliers & vendors are most welcome on board.

Also make a date for an open house at our museum in Bloomington, MN starting 3 pm on Wednesday, June 17, with light appetizers and beverages. Many updates have been made, so it's a great chance to catch up and see something new!

05/24/2026

Brand new vinyl stickers in the online shop! I'm heading over to see our counterparts at the Dutch national aviation museum in a couple weeks, so wanted to have something fun to gift them with. This set includes chibi versions of our 747-400 WorldPlane and the "Bowling Shoe" livery, a mighty mini DC-9, and the DC-10 in KLM Alliance joint colors. The small-size sheet has the stickers at about 2.5", the big-size come in at about 5" across. Great for water bottles, laptops and iPad covers, and hard-sided luggage!

Lots of other vinyl sticker designs at shop.northwestairlineshistory.org as well - stock up for summer travel, graduations, and Father's Day :)

05/22/2026

Route map excerpt and cover for Southern Airways' July 1, 1974 timetable. SO's "Flightmark" logo, clean Helvetica typeface, and bold blue-and-white color scheme was a modern advancement from its previous liveries, and was instantly recognizable from its competitors in the South. In markets outside the home territory, like Chicago and New York, these colors made a powerful statement. Gate rooms, ticket counters, uniforms, and ground equipment likewise sported this timeless corporate identity that would have been very much at home in the 2020s.

Want to explore more Southern history? Start with our landing page at https://northwestairlineshistory.org/southern/ - and then swing by our online store for lots of great logo gear for clothing, travel items, mugs, and more!

05/21/2026

For Northwest, every month was - next year will be the 80th anniversary of NWA opening the North Pacific crossing! And for as many years, we set the pace for hiring and promoting; contracting and acculturation across the many countries and cultures we flew for. Because understanding and communication is the key to providing quality service no matter where you come from, or are going to.

05/16/2026

Coming up fast - Thursday, June 18th! All folks, family, and friends from NWA, Republic, Airlink, aviation suppliers & vendors are welcome on board. Be sure to reserve ahead of time. This luncheon cruise on the St. Croix River out of Stillwater, MN is always a crowd-pleaser.

We will also be having an open house at our museum in Bloomington, MN starting 3 pm on Wednesday, June 17, with light appetizers and beverages. A "party before the party" as it were! Many retirees and snowbirds are back in Minnesota for the cruise & it's an excellent time to get to know our organization better.

05/10/2026

Thanks to the for organizing yesterday's Career Day and making space for us to exhibit - we estimate about 300 folks visited! Great opportunity to spread the word about what we do & encourage visits. And our new backdrop & merchandise assortment worked great - we are eager to add more "away team" missions to our timetable!

05/09/2026

North Central Airlines timetable cover and route map detail, April 30, 1972.

We have posted a new "landing page" for North Central where you can explore its history, link to our collection of route maps and timetables, financial reports; newsletters and inflight magazines, brochures and biographies!

https://northwestairlineshistory.org/north-central/

Address

Museum: Crowne Plaza AiRE, 3 Appletree Sq. , Bloomington. Administration & Archive: 10100 Flying Cloud Drive , Suite A306, Eden Prairie
Bloomington, MN
55425

Opening Hours

Thursday	11am - 2pm
Friday	11am - 5pm

Telephone

+19526984478

Website

http://northwestairlineshistory.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Northwest Airlines History Center posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Want your museum to be the top-listed Museum in Bloomington?