As expected, Northwest Airlines today posted a massive loss for last year. A costly combination of economic recession coupled with a plunge in travel demand after September's terrorist attacks, left Northwest losing more than two hundred million dollars in the last three months of 2001. For the entire year, Northwest posted a loss of more than $400 million dollars. Despite the red ink, the airline did better than Wall Street was expecting and the carrier says it's poised to starting making money when the economy turns around.