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No man is an island, entire of itself;  every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.
            John Donne

No airport was an island either.

This book was first published in 1968.  Clearly much has changed in aviation management in the last 49 years and readers must take this into account.  For me, knowing as little as I do about airport management or piloting a commercial aircraft, what stood out the most was the changes in security protocol.  It is no longer possible for people who are not ticketed passengers to get on board a commercial aircraft prior to takeoff and the security protocols for passengers and their luggage is much more rigid.   With this in mind I believe this novel has weathered the passage of time well.

To set the scene:

A major blizzard has blanketed Lincoln International Airport and is currently wreaking havoc with all arrivals and departures.  Their longest and widest runway is currently blocked by an Aereo Mexican 707 whose pilot yinged when he should have yanged, its landing gear currently mired in the now freezing mud.  All  available maintenance personnel are being directed to this problem which is putting undue strain on air traffic control.  Little do they know that the one chief they are waiting on to expeditiously solve this dilemma is stuck in a traffic jam created by a jack knifed tractor trailer, still miles from the airport.

The whole airport was reeling from the roughest storm they had seen in many a year.  It had been raging for 3 days now and there was still no end in sight, making snow removal from all runways and parking lots an ever increasing maintenance burden.  

A United Air Lines food truck was lost out there somewhere, presumably snowbound, in the airport perimeter and so far all efforts to locate it had failed.

In the main passenger terminal there were  thousands of disgruntled passengers from delayed or cancelled flights.  Baggage was stacked in piles everywhere and still the people kept coming.   Air Line ticket agents, like most all service personnel, were being unfairly harassed by surly passengers, even though they were doing their their level best to satisfy and accommodate..

The blocked runway necessitated redirecting outbound flights to an alternate runway rarely utilized these days owing to the fact that it meant air traffic ascending directly overhead a community called Meadowood and due to the inclement weather most pilots were not adhering to noise abatement procedures.   While perfectly understandable from a safety perspective, the noise complaints were already pouring in.

Mel Bakersfeld, the airport general manager, was juggling many different priorities tonight not the least of which was his wife’s insistence that he join her at some social event in the city. His reluctance to leave the airport and do so was putting an unprecedented strain on a marriage that was already coming apart at the seams.
Mel’s brother in law, Vernon Demerest, a  senior pilot, was another thorn in Mel’s side.  Captain Demerest was already making noise and stirring the pot about inefficient snow removal practices.  Vernon was at the airport early tonight in preparation for his flight on The Golden Argosy, Trans America’s prestige flight to Rome.  

D.O. Gurerrero is a man defeated, a man on the edge of a precipice.  He has lost his home and is currently in a run down flat and he still can’t make the rent.  His wife is working her feet and fingers to the bone trying valiantly to bridge the financial gap and once more D.O has failed.  But this time he has a plan.  He has taken everything of value and every last dollar to his name to finance a trip to Rome on board TWA’s Golden Argosy.  The last money remaining in his pocket is just enough to purchase flight insurance.  He has no luggage and no return ticket.  He holds his attache case close to his chest with the tripwire playing over his fingers.  He means to ensure his wife and children need never worry about money again.

Meanwhile in air traffic control we have Keith, who is battling his own inner demons, harbouring suicidal thoughts and teetering on the edge of his very own abyss.

Arthur Hailey’s  Airport delivers in spades, with tense human drama, and a full cast of vibrant, memorable characters.  It all takes place over several pulse pounding hours as Hailey deftly brings all the many elements together in an ending that will have you holding onto the edge of your seat.