Airport (novel)
Airport is a bestselling 1968 novel by Arthur Hailey about a large metropolitan airport and the personalities of the people who use, rely and suffer from its operation. It was adapted to make a major motion picture starring, among others, Burt Lancaster, George Kennedy, Dean Martin and Van Heflin and inspired three sequel movies: Airport 1975,Airport '77 and The Concorde ... Airport '79.
Plot summary
The story takes place at Lincoln International, a fictional Chicago airport based very loosely on O'Hare International Airport.
The action mainly centers on Mel Bakersfeld, the Airport General Manager. His devotion to his job is tearing apart his family and his marriage to his wife Cindy, who resents his use of his job at the airport as a device to avoid going to various after-hours events she wants him to participate in, as she attempts to climb into the social circles of Chicago's elite. His problems in his marriage are further exacerbated by his romantically charged friendship with a lovely divorcee, Trans America Airlines passenger relations manager Tanya Livingston.