Houston and Los Angeles are added to the international 747 freighter service network. Northwest begins service to Guam, Mariana Islands. 1982 Passenger service expands to Omaha, Kansas City, Wichita, Dallas-Ft. Atlanta and Oslo join the international cargo route system. Steven G. Rothmeier is elected president and chief operating officer.
Service expands to Tucson.
San Francisco becomes the sixth U.S. gateway to Asia with non-stop service to Tokyo. March 15 Chief Executive Officer M. Joseph Lapensky is elected chairman of the board. May 21 Northwest shareholders approve the creation of NWA Inc., a Delaware corporation, as the holding company for Northwest Airlines. Passenger service expands to Frankfurt and Dublin. All-cargo 747 freighter service extends to Singapore.