Originally Posted by
sailingfun
NW did not compete effectively in the freight market and was slowly dismantling the operation before the merger.
True. A big blow to NW cargo was the loss of the DHL contract in 2005, it was 49% of their revenue on the cargo side. After that the writing was on the wall for the freight operation. And by 2008 if a cargo company didn't have 747-400's or newer then they couldn't get military contracts. The old NW classics became quickly obsolete overnight and that happened about the time of the merger.
People joke about "No money in cargo". Well it's a competitive world and there are many cargo companies long gone and Bankrupt.