Donald Nyrop and Northwest Orient's McDonnell Douglas DC-10s
“If I want to buy an aircraft engine, I’ll go to Pratt & Whitney; if I want to buy a light bulb, I’ll go to GE.”
Northwest’s legendary CEO, Donald Nyrop pushed for a JT9D-powered DC-10 for commonality with Northwest Orient’s 747 fleet, quipping “If I want to buy an aircraft engine, I’ll go to Pratt & Whitney; if I want to buy a light bulb, I’ll go to GE.”
The original designation for the JT9D powered variant was Series 20 and the first one of the new variant was labeled and designated as such, but Nyrop didn’t want a plane that seemed numerically inferior to the CF6-powered Series 30, so he pushed McDonnell Douglas to redesignate the new variant Series 40.
Northwest Orient took delivery of 22 DC-10 Series 40s between March 1972 to December 1974 (Japan Air Lines was the only other Series 40 customer) and the airline had planned to use the DC-10-40 on its Trans-Pacific routes, but Northwest’s president, Donald Nyrop, was a bit gun shy with new equipment, especially a variant that at the time only Northwest Orient wanted.
Northwest had lost two Lockheed Electras and then a Boeing 720B in a thunderstorm near Miami. Throw on two crashes with significant loss of life with the DC-10 (Turkish near Paris and American at Chicago), the DC-10s weren’t used to their fullest potential until after Nyrop had retired.
Prior to joining Northwest, he was chair of the Civil Aeronautics Board 1950-1953 and was known to be critical of Northwest Orient. He surprised the industry when he signed on to run the airline in 1954, retiring in 1976.
Nyrop was driven by both efficiency and safety, the unions joked that Nyrop wouldn't spend a nickel unless it would make a dime and didn't compromise safety. Convinced that HQ employees were taking leisurely breaks and reading newspapers in the men's room, he had the doors removed off all the stalls in the bathrooms.