Using the rather shallow topic of gliding flight and a love story as background, the film depicts the struggle of humans with nature in a very heroic and lofty fashion. A rivalry between two glider pilots over a woman and over flying trophies is used as allegory of the struggle of man against nature, but also as the struggle of Germany against its (supposed) enemies.
Two RAF aircrew cadets, Jack Wilton (Richard Attenborough) and John Aynesworth (Jack Watling) become friends. A friendly rivalry develops between the two while they are training, and it ends in a bet. They both pass their initial training and are sent to the United States for more advanced instruction. However, once there, it becomes clear that Corporal Wilton, while he is otherwise a great pilot, cannot land a plane because of his inability to judge height. Wilton is devastated, and the feeling worsens when he sees that Aynsworth is a natural pilot. Aynsworth proceeds with his pilot’s training, and Wilton is sent up to Canada to be trained as a navigator instead.
In response to the attacks on September 11, 2001, the FAA orders all planes out of the air. American and Canadian air traffic controllers face a difficult situation: how to safely re-route and land 6,500 planes carrying close to a million people. For individual air traffic controllers, the work is chaotic, intense, and deceptively simple: pick a new route for each flight; radio instructions to turn; listen for pilot confirmation; hold traffic to keep airways from overcrowding. From Cleveland, Ohio to Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, controllers on September 11 searched for alternate airports to land large jets as their traumatized colleagues return from breaktime having watched the attacks on TV.
Dragueur et gaffeur, Larry Gaye ne vit que pour son métier : celui d’hôtesse de l’air. Véritable superstar au sein de sa profession, il est appelé à la rescousse lorsque la compagnie pour laquelle il travaille menace de remplacer les hôtesses de l’air par de séduisants robots. Encouragé par le novice Nathan et la charmante April, il s’engage alors dans une improbable compétition contre l'hôtesse-robot 200, afin de prouver que les rapports humains sont irremplaçables dans ce métier périlleux.