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Northwest 747 Seat Maps

Northwest configured its classic 747s for 400 seats in First, Executive and coach, and its 747-400s for 403 with World Business Class on both decks.

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Northwest Orient was the first US airline to fly the 747 on a domestic route — Minneapolis/St Paul to New York on 22 June 1970 — and over four decades it operated 62 of the type, more than any other US carrier.

Regal Imperial Service

The airline’s long-haul product in the 1980s was branded Regal Imperial Service. Its 747-100 and 747-200 cabins carried 400 seats: 18 First Class sleeper seats in the nose, 48 Executive Class seats and 334 in coach. Executive Class was unusual in being split between a private upper-deck cabin and an eight-across main-deck section — the brochure sold the upstairs as the quieter, more private place to sit.

The 747-400

Northwest was the launch customer for the 747-400 and the first airline to fly it, on 9 February 1989. Its later two-class layout carried 403 seats: 65 in World Business Class — 24 of them upstairs — and 338 in economy. First Class had gone from the type entirely. In the 2000s the airline retrofitted the business cabin with seats that reclined almost flat.

Fleet and fate

Northwest flew 12 -100s, 24 -200s (passenger and freighter), around a dozen -200 freighters and 16 -400s. The freighters flew to the end of 2009. The -400s passed to Delta in the 2008 merger and were retired in 2018. Northwest’s N661US, the first 747-400 ever built, is preserved at the Delta Flight Museum.

Cabin archive

Visual seat maps

Cabin zones run from the nose on the left to the tail on the right. Seat symbols show the typical abreast pattern, not every individual row.

Historical reconstruction1986

Northwest 747-100/200 Regal Imperial layout

Northwest's mid-1980s long-haul cabin: 18 First Class sleeper seats, 48 Executive Class seats and 334 economy seats, with Executive Class on the upper deck.

400passenger seats
Upper deckPrivate Executive Class cabin
Executive ClassBusiness cabin marketed for its privacy
Main deckNose at left
First Class18 seatsReclining sleeper seats in Zone A
Executive Class48 seats · 2-4-2 typicalEight abreast on the main deck
Economy334 seats · 3-4-3 typical

Map note: Executive Class was split between a private upper-deck cabin and an eight-across main-deck section. The seat map reproduces a Northwest seat chart; the class placement is confirmed by the airline's April 1986 Regal Imperial Service brochure.

Configuration source: Frequently Flying — vintage Northwest Airlines 747 seat map

Archived configuration2001–2009

Northwest 747-400 World Business Class layout

Northwest's two-class 747-400: 65 World Business Class seats — including 24 on the upper deck — and 338 economy seats.

403passenger seats
Upper deckWorld Business Class
World Business Class24 seats · 2-2 typicalUpper-deck business cabin
Main deckNose at left
World Business Class41 seatsForward main-deck business cabin
Economy338 seats · 3-4-3 typicalCoach with some 2-4-2 rear sections

Map note: Northwest had dropped First Class from the type by this point. World Business Class held 24 seats upstairs in a 2-2 layout, with the remainder on the main deck; the airline retrofitted the fleet with lie-flat-capable seats.

Configuration source: CPTDB — Northwest Airlines 747-400 fleet notes

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the primary and institutional references below.

  1. Vintage Northwest Airlines 747 seat map — Frequently Flying
  2. Regal Imperial Service brochure, April 1986 — Northwest Airlines History Center
  3. Northwest Airlines 747-400 fleet notes — CPTDB Wiki

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