I definitely miss the old NWA! I think about it frequently everytime me and my family non-rev. They often ask me which I like the most, and I - and they- all miss the good days of being part of the 'Airlink' family.

The unlimited international travel was something I miss probably the most. That, and "all" interline travel - including the ID 75/90 agreements (which we lost) and buddy passes (lost those, too). NWA was really good to their Airlink people as far as those benefits go... and having to compete with only mainline NWA, Compass and Mesaba wasn't really that bad trying to get a flight. It's next to impossible now on a lot of routes.

As another poster mentioned, being able to check-in online and printing boarding passes was a great perk for us.
What I DO like since the merger is having access to DLNET so we can book our flights online, whereas we couldn't have access to RADAR under NWA.

Did parents/retirees of mainline get on ahead of Airlink employees? I can't remember now but even then I went pretty much where I wanted with ease.

Plus, having Pepsi and Mtn Dew's was pretty high on my list!!