AIRPORT

Writer’s name: Arthur Hailey

From: Nassim Khatib

Grade: 11-“5”

 Main characters

Mel Bakersfeld is the main character around whom the book revolves. He is General Manager of Lincoln International Airport.

Tanya Livingston is Mel’s love interest.

Joe Patroni is the tough and practical head of maintenance operations for Trans World Airlines (TWA) at Lincoln.

D. O. Guerrero is an increasingly psychologically disturbed bankrupt building contractor.

Vernon Demerest is a pompous and self-confident senior pilot for Trans America Airlines and brother-in-law to Bakersfeld.

Gwen Meighen is a senior Trans America Airlines stewardess on Flight Two and Vernon’s lover.

Setting

Place

The Airport is an account of the events which happen at a fictional airport during
one day. The airport is called Lincoln International Airport.

Weather

The events of the story happened in winter, on a windy day, snowy, with strong winds and rain.

Time

The action takes place at 6:30 P.M – 1:30 on Friday night in January, in 1968.

PLOT

The action is mainly focused on Mel Bakersfield, the general manager of the airport. . His troubles in his marriage are exacerbated by his nagging wife Sandy, who does not get along with his work at the airport, and by his romantically fraught friendship with Tanya Livingston of Trans America Airlines.

Vernon Demerest is a pilot at the airport and the brother-in-law of Mel. He is full of himself and he’s also a womanizer, because he got Gwen, a stewardess, pregnant but he wants her to have an abortion.

The story takes place one night, when a huge snow storm wreaks havoc on airport operations.
The story focuses on Bakersfield’s struggle to keep the airport open during a storm. His main problem was the unexpected closure of Runway 30, due to which a passenger plane departing for a Mexican airline was grounded.
And the snow that led to the closure of the runway. This then becomes a major problem as another plane, the second flight across America, encounters an emergency in the air, aborting the flight to Rome and returning to Lincoln. This requires running Runway 30 – at any cost.

Main Idea

The incidents and passing on the airport, because the story tells things about all the people who are in the airport and witness the accidents. 

The author wants to tell us that the field of air transportation and, in particular, the airport affects a large number of people with different characters, fates, moods and connections.

My Opinion

This is a fictional story – fast paced, exciting, richly textured with memorable characters.

personally, I liked the story, because it talked about the airport, and I like the airports.

In addition, the events exited me to know what will happen in the end of the story.

20 Chunks important

Lincoln Airport                      pilot

Runway                               Captain

Snow                                  Speed

Mood                                  Taxiway

Passengers                          Flight deck

Airplane                              Landing

Air traffic                            Aéreo-Mexican 707

Emergency                         Snow desk

Radar                                 Aircraft

Controller room                   Oxygen