According to Paramount Pictures production notes found in AMPAS Library files, Airplane! was also known as Kentucky Fried Theatre’s Airplane – Flying High. As stated 21 Jun 1979 in DV, Universal Pictures had filed a complaint against Paramount Pictures Corp. in which it argued that the title and concept of the film was too close to Universal’s series of Airport movies (see entry for the 1970 film Airport) and would cause confusion. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) was scheduled to review the complaint and issue a ruling. On 26 Jul 1979, DV reported that the MPAA arbitration board had ruled in favor of Universal, meaning that Paramount would have to release the film under another title. As stated in a 23 Jul 1980 Var article, Universal finally relented and allowed Paramount to release the film domestically under the title Airplane!, although no reason was given why Universal gave its permission to Paramount to use the title.
       The writing-producing-directing team of Jim Abrahams, and David and Jerry Zucker, said that the creative spark for the film came from the movie Zero Hour! (1957, see entry) that they accidentally taped overnight when they were collecting late-night TV commercials to spoof for their Kentucky Fried Theatre, a venue dedicated to original sketch comedy combined with videotape and filmed routines. The friends hadn’t planned to watch the movie but each had the same reaction. The film, a serious drama about landing an airplane full of passengers and crew stricken with food poisoning, would be the perfect material to parody. They came up with a script that no one bought. So they wrote a different script, based on Kentucky Fried Theatre routines, raised $35,000, filmed a ten-minute pilot and attracted an investor. The subsequent movie The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977, see entry) became a hit. Afterward, the team returned to the Airplane! script, which was rewritten approximately “thirty times.” The next hurdle was convincing studio executives to give them “total creative control.”
       The 11 Jul 1980 DV article reported that Bob Rehme of Avco-Embassy was sold on the film’s humor but the company could not afford to finance the film. At one point, American International Pictures, a company that shared the same attorney as the three filmmakers, considered setting up financing for the film. The breakthrough came when Susan Baerwald, a script analyst for United Artists (UA), recommended the script to her longtime friend then-Paramount president Michael Eisner after UA rejected her recommendation of the script. When Producer Jon Davison whittled down Paramount’s budget estimate of the film from $7.5 million to $3.2 million, the “project looked viable.” In addition, production notes mentioned that Paramount executives agreed to take the risk when producer Howard W. Koch consented to work with Abrahams and the Zucker brothers. All together, the team calculated that it took five years to get the movie made.
       Prior to the film’s release, a 26 Jul 1979 DV news item reported that the Directors Guild of America (DGA) had ruled that a film could not be helmed by three directors nor could the filmmakers be credited, using the “fictitious name of ‘Abrahams N. Zuckers.’” According to a 3 Sep 1986 Var article, before the director credit dispute was resolved, a DGA representative was present on the set “at all times to make sure only Jerry Zucker spoke to the actors.” A 4 Oct 1979 DV news item stated that a waiver granted by the DGA executive board gave the three filmmakers one-time rights to appear as a triple director credit in the film.
       On 21 Aug 1979, HR reported that Jerry Zucker was situated on set with the cameras, interacting with the actors, while David Zucker and Abrahams would observe the action from “a locked-circuit TV system” on the perimeter of the set. When the shot was done, Jerry would join his co-directors to decide if the scene was “a print.”
       In the early stages of casting, the names of several comedians were attached to the film. A 3 Apr 1979 HR news item announced that Chevy Chase would star in the film. In the 11 Jul 1980 DV, producer Davison stated that Dom DeLuise, Bill Bixby and “almost everyone who had ever been in or even watched ‘Saturday Night Live’" had been considered as casting choices the film.
       As stated in a 14 Jun 1979 DV news item, Helen Reddy was considered to parody her role as a singing nun in Universal Studios’ Airport 1975 (1974, see entry) for Airplane! It hadn’t been decided yet by Universal if playing the same character in a different movie was a form of “plagiarism.” A later 21 Jun 1979 DV article reported that Paramount wanted to avoid additional legal problems with Universal Studios given that the two companies shared overseas distribution through Cinema International Corporation (CIC) and, therefore, Reddy would not “reprise her singing nun role” in Airplane!
       According to a 12 Jul 1979 HR news item, blind singer Jose Feliciano was cast in the movie as a “Polish Airline” pilot, along with actor look-alikes for Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder who were cast as co-pilots, but the Polish-American League protested. However, on 28 Jun 1980, a LAHExam news item stated that footage was shot but discarded when the concept of a blind cockpit was deemed not funny enough for the final film.
       Several actors made their film debuts including Robert Hays as “Ted Striker”, and Julie Hagerty as “Elaine." According to a 21 Aug 1979 HR article, Hays had a costarring role in the television show Angie while filming Airplane! Several times during filming, Hays would juggle both roles and exist on “three hours of sleep.” A 26 Jul 1979 DV news item reported that singer Maureen McGovern was cast as a guitar-carrying nun in the movie, which marked her feature film debut as an actress, and a 7 Jun 1979 DV news item reported that Leslie Nielsen, known as a dramatic actor, would make his comedic debut in the film. A 31 Jul 1979 DV news item reported that the three directors would appear in cameo roles.
       According to an 18 Jun 1979 DV news item, principal photography was scheduled to begin 20 Jun at Culver City Studios in Culver City, CA. As stated in a 10 Jul 1980 NYT article, the film’s budget was $3.5 million and within a week of its release, the film had grossed $7 million in box office receipts. Abrahams noted that at the time the film was in production, Paramount had also approved the $45 million-budgeted Star Trek – The Motion Picture (1979, see entry) and the studio directed a larger part of their attention to the more expensive, higher-profile film.
       Production notes stated that most of the principal photography was performed at Culver City Studios, but exteriors were filmed at Los Angeles International Airport and another key sequence was filmed at Paramount Studios. On 21 Jul 1980, Box reported that the film had a thirty-five day-shooting schedule.
       Box stated that a rough cut of the film came in at 115 minutes. The film was previewed at three college campuses and two movie theaters, and the filmmakers trimmed the film to 88 minutes based on audience feedback.
       After its release, a 7 Jul 1980 HR article declared the film “a top grossing picture for the summer.” A 7 Jul 1980 LAHExam article stated that the film had earned $361,000 in its first four days in twenty-one theaters in Los Angeles, while it had pulled in $730,000 in the same time frame in 75 theaters in New York City, establishing new box office records. The first run film also screened in nine Los Angeles-area drive-in theaters, in which the total from Saturday night was $53,683, “an average of $6,000 per drive-in.” LAHExam claimed that this gross topped the average weekly box office gross of most drive-ins. On 8 Jul 1980, HR reported that the film has earned $6,053,514 in its first five days of domestic release, playing in 705 theaters. A 19 Aug 1980 HR article stated that its success at the box office made theater owners hold over the film long past its scheduled end dates. Although considered an acceptable practice for well-performing releases, this created fewer slots for other pictures opening later that summer. On 10 Apr 1981, a DV news item reported Airplane! had earned $130 million worldwide to date.
       The end credit crawl carries the following statement: “Special thanks to Kim Jorgensen, Pat Proft.” The following acknowledgements appear at the end of the film: “The producers gratefully acknowledge: Trans American Freight Lines; Atari, Inc.; Schumacher Animal Rentals; Argon Oil Company; Ron Smith Look-Alikes; Dick Lowry; Laurie Abdo; Sheri Maruno; Paul Turner; Nancy Cocuzzo; Danice Hertz; Dennis Park; Sheila Sullivan; Terry Shagin; Robert Reilly; Richard Raynis; Susan Breslau; Jason Black; Erika Hiller; Chris Ross; Peter Ivers; Karen Rasch.”