Ted Striker is an ex-fighter pilot who developed PTSD after "that incident" during the war that led to his becoming frightened of flying. Ted is in love with Elaine Dickinson, a flight attendant who broke up with him because he was allowing his fears to rule his life and their relationship. He gathers his courage and buys a ticket for a flight that she is working as a flight attendant on. Elaine is not as impressed by this as he had hoped and during the flight from Los Angeles to Chicago rebuffs all of his attempts to talk to her or to rekindle their relationship.
After dinner, many of the passengers begin to fall ill. Dr Rumack realizes that one of the meal options gave the passengers food poisoning. Unfortunately this is the meal option that the pilot crew had chosen, and Captain Oveur and Roger Murdock have both become sick as well. Elaine is ordered by Steve McCroskey, in charge of the Chicago control tower, to activate the plane's auto-pilot, who turns out to be a large inflatable pilot named Otto. He will be able to fly the plane successfully to Chicago but he won't be able to land it. Elaine realizes their only hope is Steve. She convinces him to fly the plane and land it but he is afraid that his trauma will prevent him from making a successful landing.
McCroskey is also worried on hearing Striker's name. He calls in Commander Rex Cramer, Striker's former commander, to talk him down and hopefully calm his nerves. As the plane gets close to Chicago, Striker forgets to check the oil temperature and this damages one of the engines. A bad thunderstorm reduces his visibility which of course makes the landing even more challenging than it might have been. Thanks to Kramer's endless advice and morale-boosting, Striker overcomes his fears and lands the plane safely with only minor injuries to a few passengers (who have been asked to assume crash positions). Seeing him save the day like this makes Elaine remember why she loved him in the first place and their love is rekindled. The two share a kiss as Otto the auto-pilot inflates a female co-pilot doll and takes off in the plane once the passengers have disembarked.
