Northwest Airlines

Northwest Airlines is an airline headquartered in Eagan, Minnesota,It is the 4th Largest US Airline. Northwest has three major hubs in the United States: Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, and Memphis International Airport. Northwest also operates flights from a hub in Asia at Narita International Airport near Tokyo and also operates transatlantic and Asian flights in cooperation with partner KLM from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. The airline is the only one of the 6 major U.S. carriers to not have a New York City area airport as a hub or focus city.

Northwest is the world's fifth largest airline^{^*} in terms of RPK (revenue-passenger-kilometers). In addition to operating one of the largest domestic route networks in the U.S., Northwest carries more passengers across the Pacific (5.1 million in 2004) than any other U.S. carrier, and carries more air cargo than any other passenger airline. The airline, along with its parent company and subsidiaries, is currently operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Northwest Airlines' regional flights are operated under the name Northwest Airlink by Mesaba Airlines and Pinnacle Airlines. Its frequent flyer program is called WorldPerks.

History

Beginnings

Northwest Airlines was founded in 1926 by Col. Lewis Brittin, under the name Northwest Airways. Like other early airlines, Northwest's focus was not in hauling passengers, but in flying mail for the U.S. Post Office Department.^{^*} The fledgling airline established a mail route between Minneapolis, Minnesota and Chicago, Illinois, using open cockpit biplanes such as the Curtiss Oriole.

Northwest began flying passengers in 1927. In 1928, the airline started its first international route with service to Winnipeg, Canada. The airline's operations were expanded to smaller cities in the region by the end of the decade. In 1931 Northwest sponsored Charles and Anne Lindbergh on a pioneering flight to Japan, scouting what would become known as the Northwest Airlines Great Circle route, and proving that flying through Alaska could save as much as 2,000 miles on a New York-Tokyo route. In 1933, Northwest was designated to fly the Northern Transcontinental Route from New York City to Seattle, Washington; it adopted the name Northwest Airlines the following year. Northwest stock began to be publicly traded in 1941. During World War II, Northwest joined the war effort by flying military equipment and personnel from the continental United States to Alaska. During this time, Northwest began painting their aircraft tails red, as a visual aid in the often harsh weather conditions. This experience with the severe northern climate led the government to designate Northwest as the United States' main North Pacific carrier following the war.

In the spring of 1947 Northwest began staffing its Tokyo base with company personnel, flying them across the "Northern Route" in twin-engine DC-3 aircraft. On 15 July 1947, Northwest became the first airline to fly a commercial passenger flight from the U.S. to Japan, using The Manila, a Douglas DC-4 aircraft, by way of Anchorage. From Tokyo, the flight continued to Seoul, Shanghai, and Manila. Taipei replaced Shanghai after the end of Chinese civil war of 1949. With its new routes, the airline rebranded itself as Northwest Orient Airlines, although the legal name of the company remained Northwest Airlines.

Global expansion

On 1 August 1949, Northwest took delivery of its first double-deck Boeing 377 Stratocruisers, which allowed the airline to establish higher service standards and reduce flight time. They were used to fly the Tokyo route nonstop from Seattle, and—with one stop in Anchorage—from Chicago. In 1951, Northwest helped establish Japan Airlines by leasing its aircraft and crew to the new company. In 1952, under the U.S.-Japan bilateral aviation treaty, Northwest and Pan American were the two U.S. flag carriers awarded rights to fly not only from the U.S. to Japan, but to pick up and carry passengers beyond Japan. Northwest remains the largest non-Japanese carrier at Tokyo's Narita Airport, with flights to 15 cities in Asia including Seoul, Manila, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Bangkok, Taipei, Kaohsiung and Singapore.

Northwest meteorologists pioneered the first clear-air turbulence forecasting system in 1957, important since the airline flew many northern routes over turbulence-prone mountain areas. Northwest remains a leader in turbulence prediction, providing TPAWS (turbulence prediction and warning services) to other airlines. ^*

On 1 June 1959, Northwest took delivery of its first turboprop jet aircraft, the Lockheed L-188 Electra. On 8 July 1960, Northwest put the Douglas DC-8 into service, offering the shortest flight times on routes to Asia. In August 1960, Northwest retired the last Boeing 377 Stratocruiser. The airline took delivery of the Boeing 720B in 1961, and in 1963, with the new Boeing 707, and the retirement of the last propeller aircraft, Northwest became the first U.S. airline with an all-turbofan jet fleet, hence the slogan "Northwest Orient: The Fan-Jet Airline". Northwest began operating the Boeing 727-151 in 1964.

Northwest took delivery of its first Boeing 747-151 aircraft in 1970. The airline began retiring the older Boeing 707s, and using the newer 707s on high-density domestic routes, where the 727 lacked sufficient capacity.

Merger with Republic and the 1990s

After airline deregulation, Northwest began nonstop flights to other Asian cities, returned to China in 1984 after a 34 year hiatus, and gradually strengthened its presence in the southern United States. It also began flying to Britain, Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavia. On 1 October 1986, Northwest purchased its competitor, Minneapolis-St. Paul-based Republic Airlines and adopted its three-hub network centered around Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Memphis. Northwest dropped the word Orient from its brand name after the merger. The legal name has been Northwest Airlines since 1984. Northwest also received a new slogan; "Look To Us", which was joked at by Northwest pilots as "look to us; then take the bus" due to NWA's poor service reputation at the time, which also resulted in the still-popular joke "Northworst Airlines".

In 1989, Northwest introduced a new identity designed by Landor Associates superseding the 1970 logo and livery. A new livery, nicknamed the "bowling shoe" by employees, was adopted at the same time. New burgundy and beige uniforms designed by Claude Montana, but manufactured by Walt Disney Imagineering, were also introduced. Northwest's CEO Al Checchi was a board member at Disney, so WDI's manufacturing was a natural fit, but the uniforms wore out quickly. The joke among flight attendants was "Why can Disney make a good Mickey Mouse costume, but they can't make a good uniform for us?".

Three years later, when Northwest launched the "Some People Just Know How to Fly" ad campaign, new blue uniforms for flight attendants and customer service agents designed by French designer Thierry Mugler were introduced. The uniforms were criticized by flight attendants as being expensive (as they were made in France in the same plant that made Mugler's ready-to-wear collection) and flimsy, and were phased out in 1996 in favor of the current uniform.

klmreliable.gif Also in 1993, Northwest began its strategic alliance with KLM, which was the largest airline partnership ever conceived at the time. This partnership eventually became the Wings Alliance. However, the alliance never grew beyond the two airlines, and is now obsolete from a passenger's perspective, because both airlines are part of the larger SkyTeam Alliance. (From a legal perspective, the Northwest/KLM alliance remains important: it has antitrust immunity, whereas the broader SkyTeam alliance merely has code sharing privileges.) Northwest gradually pulled out of its minor European destinations and once more focused its attention on the domestic and Asian markets. On 1 May 1996 Northwest began the first nonstop service from the U.S. to China, on the Detroit-Beijing route. Nonstop Detroit-Shanghai service followed in April 2000. Later, these nonstop services were suspended in 2002. All Northwest flights between United States and Mainland China require a stop in Narita.

Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, Northwest enjoyed profits and focused on improving technology to increase convenience while reducing costs. The airline has offered airport self-service check-in kiosks since 1997, and has more than any other airline. Northwest was also the first large U.S. airline to offer passengers Internet check-in, with service from December 2000. During the early 2000s, Northwest Airlines acquired a reputation of refusing to adopt industry-wide fare increases that had been accepted by other United States airlines. This changed in March 2005, when Northwest adopted fare hikes in response to rising oil prices.

A recurring issue in the airline's recent history has been often uneasy relationships with labor groups. In 1998, Northwest walked away from the bargaining table, locked out its pilots (represented by ALPA) and shut down the airline for more than two weeks. The airline sustained heavy losses as a result, and ended 1998 in the red, after being profitable since 1993.

9/11 aftermath and beyond

Due to the effects of competition from low-cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines and increased labor costs due to a new contract with employees represented by the AMFA labor union, Northwest began to make cutbacks in early 2001. Two small rounds of employee layoffs and other cutbacks were implemented in the months prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Subsequent to the attacks, Northwest was forced to make major changes to its business structure through major employee layoffs and other cost cutting measures. The retirement of costly and aging aircraft such as the Boeing 727 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10 were accelerated as new aircraft went into service. In addition, the airline pursued options to reduce costs across the board, including removing pillows, peanuts, pretzels, in-flight entertainment on domestic flights, and newspapers and magazines. Also, over 50 McDonnell Douglas DC-9, Boeing 757, Boeing 747, and Airbus A320 family aircraft have been withdrawn from use in an attempt to lower overall capacity and save money.

Following many years of a pioneering and close partnership with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Northwest, along with partners KLM and Continental Airlines, joined the SkyTeam Alliance, a partnership of nine airlines from around the world, on 15 September 2004. This was partially a result of Air France acquiring KLM, forming the Air France-KLM group. The airline continued to hemorrhage money, however. In the spring of 2005, a media spectacle occurred when the news leaked that top executives in the company had been selling much of their stock. Subsequently, shareholders filed lawsuits against four top officials for insider trading, including Chairman Gary Wilson, CEO Doug Steenland, former director Al Checchi and former CFO Bernie Han.

Northwest's labor problems also continued into the 21st century. On August 20 2005, after months of negotiations, an impasse declared by the NMB and a 30-day cooling off period, the over 4,750 Northwest aircraft mechanics, janitors, and aircraft cleaners represented by AMFA went on strike against the company. After numerous negotiation sessions, no agreement was reached, and the company began hiring permanent replacement workers. In mid-October, after permanently hiring about 500 non-union workers, Northwest made a final offer to the union. The offer would have saved about 500 union jobs and offered four weeks of severance pay to terminated employees. This offer was significantly worse than the original declined by the union, which would have saved over 2,000 jobs and offered 16 weeks of severance pay. On 21 October 2005, AMFA announced that it would not allow its members to vote on the offer, citing that parts of the contract would violate the union's commitment to its members. Finally, in late December 2005, Northwest made what it termed its "final offer" to the union. The agreement would have terminated all striking workers and given them rights to unemployment compensation. The union voted down the offer.

Despite far-reaching money saving initiatives, Northwest was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the first time in its 79-year history. The filing took place in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on 14 September 2005. With Northwest's filing, four of the six largest U.S. carriers were operating under bankruptcy protection. Northwest joined Delta Air Lines (which filed just minutes before), United Airlines, and US Airways in bankruptcy. US Airways and United Airlines have since emerged from bankruptcy protection. Northwest common stock shares dropped more than 50% for the second time in three days following the news, largely because stock is generally cancelled as part of the bankruptcy process. In the following weeks, Northwest Airlink carriers Mesaba Airlines and Pinnacle Airlines both announced that Northwest had missed payments to them for their Airlink flying. Northwest also announced plans to shrink its Airlink fleet by over 45 aircraft. Mesaba Aviation filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on October 13 2005. However, Northwest recently announced that it would begin to increase capacity again.

Hours before the start of a possibly devastating strike, Northwest was able to secure a new contract agreement with its various unions. Northwest has not yet announced an exact date to pull out of bankruptcy.

NWA Cargo

As of 2006, NWA was the only U.S. airline to operate a completely separate air cargo operation. Northwest flies a number of routes using its dedicated cargo fleet, carrying no commercial passengers. (Many other U.S. airlines carry cargo on existing passenger routes.)

NWA Cargo maintains a large hub at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska.

Destinations

Fleet

Northwest currently has one of the oldest fleets among all major air carriers, with a fleet average airframe age of 18.3 years. This is due, in part, to a large fleet of McDonnell Douglas DC-9s dating from the 1970s and -80s which were acquired via the Republic Airlines merger in 1986. In an attempt to extend their useful lives, Northwest replaced the aging interiors of the DC-9 fleet in the mid-1990s with all-new materials similar to those in the cabin of the Boeing 717-200. DC-9 aircraft are being retired at a rate of about 30 a year as they reach their maximum flight ratings Exactly how the airline will replace them in the long run is still an open question, but at present Northwest seems to be moving towards a solution using CRJs operated by its Northwest Airlink subsidiariaries, or the possible formation of Compass Airlines, operating Embraer 175s. Excluding its DC-9 fleet, the airline's average fleet age is 9.9 years [http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1058033/000110465905009167/a05-3135_110k.htm. Northwest was for over three decades a large Boeing 727 operator. As the aircraft aged, the 727 fleet was slowly replaced throughout the 1990s with Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft. The final 727 aircraft were retired in 2003. Since the 1960s, Northwest has operated one of the world's largest Boeing 747 fleets, flying a mostly 747 fleet to and within Asia from the 1970s through the early 2000s. Since then, older 747-100 and 747-200 series aircraft have been retired and replaced with the Airbus A330 and 747-400. In addition to the DC-9, Northwest also currently operates older McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and 747-200 aircraft.

Northwest is in the midst of a major long-haul fleet renewal program. As part of this program, Northwest introduced a simplified new paint scheme and logo in April 2003. The airline is currently replacing its DC-10 and Boeing 747-200 aircraft with the Airbus A330 and the new Boeing 787. The first A330-300, used on European flights, arrived on August 6, 2003. On June 28, 2006, Northwest announced the final retirement of the DC-10. The last DC-10 is scheduled to leave Honolulu International Airport for Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (Flight 98) on January 7 2007 ^*.

Northwest has been involved in the launch of numerous aircraft. In 1989, the airline was the primary launch customer for the 747-400. Northwest was also the United States launch customer for the Airbus A320 with N301US, an A320-211 manufactured on June 6, 1989. In 2005, Northwest announced plans to be the North American (and thus U.S.) launch customer for the 787, which will be delivered in 2008.

All of Northwest's aircraft have a two-class configuration: coach and first class on domestic routes; coach and World Business Class on international routes. Northwest does not offer inflight entertainment or computer power on any domestic flight in either class. Northwest's A330s and 747-451s have the first lie-flat business class seats of any U.S. airline, but both All Nippon Airways' and JAL's business class seats have greater pitch and width than Northwest's 60" pitch and 20" width offered with the World Business Class seat. In addition, many airlines offer increased seat pitch and/or width with their First Class product compared to the World Business Class product. Airbus A330 aircraft have a personal, individually controlled on-demand video monitor for every seat in both classes of service, and AC power outlets for many seats. For information on the fleet of Northwest's Airlink partners, see Mesaba Airlines or Pinnacle Airlines.

Type	Total	Passengers (First*/Economy)	Routes	Notes
Airbus A320-211 & -212	78	148 (16/132)	Domestic routes; short-Medium Haul
Airbus A319-114	76	124 (16/108)	Domestic routes; short-Medium Haul
Airbus A330-223	9	243 (32/211)	Seattle-Tokyo-Seoul, Tokyo-Beijing, Portland-Tokyo-Singapore, San Francisco-Tokyo-Bangkok, Seattle-Amsterdam	with new World Business Class; audio/video on demand on every seat
Airbus A330-323	11	298 (34/264)	Detroit-Frankfurt, Detroit-London, Detroit-Rome, Detroit-Paris, Detroit-Amsterdam, Boston-Amsterdam, Minneapolis-Amsterdam, Minneapolis-London	with new World Business Class; audio/video on demand on every seat; new service from Amsterdam to Bangalore delayed due to high fuel costs
Boeing 747-251	3	353 (67/286) 430 (30/400)	Guam-Tokyo, Saipan-Tokyo, Tokyo-Hong Kong	gradually being phased out of service
Boeing 747-451	16	403 (65/338)	Detroit-Tokyo-Shanghai, Minneapolis-Tokyo-Manila, Detroit-Nagoya-Manila, Detroit-Osaka-Taipei, Honolulu-Tokyo, Los Angeles-Tokyo	Launch customer of aircraft and started service in 1989; with new World Business Class; service from New York-JFK to Tokyo suspended due to high fuel costs
Boeing 757-251	51	180 (22/158)-US 184 (22/162)-US 182 (20/162)-Int'l	Saipan-Nagoya-Tokyo, Tokyo-Busan, Tokyo-Guangzhou, many intra-Asia routes; domestic routes	Eight 757-200s will be ETOPS-certified and retrofitted with Aviation Partners winglets and new interiors by winter 2006 for routes to Europe.
Boeing 757-351	16	224 (24/200)	domestic routes, west coast to Hawaii
Boeing 787-851	(18 on order)	221 (36/185)	Entry into service: 2008	Will be first North American operator of the 787, was the second U.S. major carrier to order the 787; second U.S. carrier (since Primaris Airlines has cancelled its order, NWA is behind Continental Airlines) with new World Business Class
Douglas DC-9-31 & -32	99	100 (16/84)	Domestic routes; short Haul	Planned to be phased out by Embraer 190 jets.
Douglas DC-9-41	12	110 (16/94)	Domestic routes; short Haul	Planned to be phased out by Embraer 190 jets.
Douglas DC-9-51	34	125 (16/109)	Domestic routes; short Haul	Planned to be phased out by Embraer 190 jets.
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30	20	273 (26/247)	Minneapolis-Amsterdam-Mumbai, Honolulu-Tokyo, Honolulu-Osaka, Minneapolis-Honolulu, Memphis-Amsterdam	Planned to be phased out completely by Airbus A330 aircraft by January 7, 2007.

Northwest also operates thirteen Boeing 747-251SF freighters.

The average Northwest fleet age is 10.8 years as of June 2006.

Note in table with the asterisk (*): World Business Class on international flights; First Class is on domestic flights only.

Affinity programs

WorldPerks is Northwest Airlines' frequent flyer program, which is celebrating 20 years, offering regular travelers the ability to obtain free tickets, First Class upgrades on flights, discounted membership for its airport lounges (WorldClubs), or other types of rewards. Customers accumulate miles from actual flight segments they fly or through Northwest's partners, such as car rental companies, hotels, credit cards, and other vendors.

In addition to its Northwest Airlink and SkyTeam Alliance partnerships, Northwest offers frequent flyer partnerships the following:

Big Sky
Cebu Pacific
China Southern Airlines
(joining SkyTeam in early 2007)
Copa Airlines

WorldClubs is Northwest's member lounge. Members have reciprocal access to a number of other clubs, including fellow SkyTeam carriers such as Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines, as well as Kenya Airways and Malaysia Airlines. Unlike some other airline lounges, WorldClubs offer complimentary alcoholic beverages in domestic locations. Northwest recently announced that it will roll out free Wi-Fi internet access world-wide. Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines are the only two airlines in the United States that offer lifetime memberships in their airport lounge programs, something that currently costs non-elite members $4,690. (List of locations)

Code Sharing

The airline has code-sharing agreements with the following airlines (as of July 2006):

Incidents and accidents

On January 10, 1938, Flight 2, a Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra crashed in the Bridger Mountains, 12 miles northeast of Bozeman, Montana. All 8 passengers and 2 crew members aboard the plane were killed. This was the airline's first fatal crash. Three other Lockheed Model 14 aircraft belonging to Northwest crashed over the next thirteen months.

On 12 March 1948, Flight 4422, a Douglas DC-4 military charter en route from Shanghai back to the U.S.]^* crashed into Mount Sanford, Alaska.

The disappearance of Flight 2501 ^*, a DC-4 flying from New York City to Minneapolis-St. Paul on 23 June 1950, over Lake Michigan, has never been solved.

On 24 November 1971, Flight 305, en route from Portland International Airport to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, was hijacked by D. B. Cooper. After receiving a $200,000 ransom payment and four parachutes in Seattle, he ordered the crew to fly to Mexico, and jumped from the aft airstairs of the Boeing 727-051 while it was in flight. Cooper's fate remains unknown.

On 16 August 1987, Flight 255 ^* crashed on takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. All aboard the MD-82 were killed except for one young girl.

Three Northwest aircraft were targeted in the failed Operation Bojinka terrorist plot of 1995. Also related to terrorism, just before the 11 September 2001 attacks, Zacarias Moussaoui (who was later labeled as a possible "20th hijacker" by the news media) was arrested after attempting to use a flight simulator owned by Northwest Aerospace Training Corporation (NATCO), which is affiliated with Northwest.

In 1990, three crew members were intoxicated when they flew their Boeing 727 airliner from Fargo, North Dakota to MSP airport in the Twin Cities. Another incident occurred in January 2001 when a pilot flew a Douglas DC-9 from San Antonio, Texas to MSP. Upon landing, he had a 0.056% blood alcohol content level, above the Federal Aviation Administration limit. He was soon fired. British Airways, America West, Delta, and many other airlines have had to deal with this issue.

On 13 June 2001 Flight 28 from Manila to Tokyo made an emergency landing in Tokyo when one set of its landing gear descended but did not lock into place. None of the 410 people aboard was injured. The emergency landing caused Tokyo's Narita Airport to close its only runway for nearly an hour and a half.

It was the second time in as many days that a Northwest plane had to make an emergency landing at this airport. The previous day, Northwest pilots had to return to the airport after indicator lights suggested their plane had an engine problem.

In 2004, pilots mistakenly landed at Ellsworth AFB instead of the nearby Rapid City airport. Passengers aboard were asked to close their window shades by the US Air Force.

On 19 June 2005 a Northwest McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 en route from Mumbai (Bombay) to Amsterdam diverted to Mehrabad Airport in Tehran Iran. A warning light (later proven to be a false alarm) indicated there was a possible fire in the cargo hold. Several hours were spent negotiating the purchase of fuel, due to the lack of precedent; this was the first US airliner to land in Iran since the 1979 revolution.

On 19 August 2005 a Northwest Airlines Boeing 747-251 lost its nose gear and skidded on the runway at Guam International Airport. There were no fatalities.

On 29 August 2005 a Northwest Airlines Airbus A330-223, operating as Northwest Airlines Flight 5, clipped and collided with a Horizon Air De Havilland Canada Dash 8 at Portland International Airport before departing for Tokyo, Japan. There were no fatalities.

On 18 June 2006 a Boeing 747-400 en route Taipei-Osaka (Flight NW070) was forced to make an emergency landing at Kansai International Airport after reporting problems with one of its engines.

Compass Airlines

Compass Airlines is a new subsidiary to Northwest Airlines which was launched in June of 2006 flying a single Bombardier CRJ-200 between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Washington Dulles. During the concept phase, the subsidiary was known as "NewCo".

Compass was formed due to a contract dispute between Northwest and its pilot's union. Due to the scope clause in the pilot contracts, the number of mid-sized jets operated by the airline was limited. In order to avert this problem, Northwest bought the operating certificate of defunct Independence Air on March 10, 2006, for $2 Million, in order to establish a new feeder airline. It is speculated that Compass will operate Embraer E-170/175s, while mainline Northwest will operate E-190s. These aircraft will help to replace the aging DC-9s and lower the cost per available seat mile.

While the order and delivery of these aircraft are pending, a single CRJ-200 will remain in service to preserve the airline's operating certificate.

References

Ruble, Kenneth D.; (1986). Flight to the Top: How a Hometown Airline Made History--and Keeps on Making It: The Absorbing Sixty-year Story of Northwest Airlines. New York: Viking Press.
"Pilots Who Flew Drunk are Sentenced to Prison". (October 27, 1990). St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. 7A. Retrieved March 21, 2005 from LexisNexis.
Moylan, Martin J. "NWA to trim mechanics jobs". (March 17, 2005). Detroit Free Press.
Northwest Airlines history timeline on www.nwa.com
U.S. Postal Service history; airmail service starts
"Order 2006-2-1", Joint Application of Alitalia-Linee Aeree Italiane-S.p.A., Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Inc., KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Inc. and Societe Air France for Approval of and Antitrust Immunity for Alliance Agreements, United States Department of Transportation, February 6, 2006.

External links

1926 establishments | Airlines of the United States | Companies based in Minnesota | Fortune 1000 | Worldperks

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