A National Airlines DC-6 was repainted with fictional "Trans States" titles and insignia for a majority of the ground and aerial scenes, with the exception of a few scenes where models were used instead of the real aircraft.
John Kerr, as co-pilot Mike Rule, was far too young for the role to pilot, Dick Barnett, played by Dana Andrews for several reasons. It's mentioned that Rule flew "a million miles" with Barnett, which means, despite being an exaggeration, they'd flown together for years. Also, Barnett Jr. is about eighteen years old in this movie, and Kerr, who is around thirty, is shown in a flashback with the son when he's around eight years old, which would make Rule far too young to be a pilot, right out of high school.
When Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Troy Donahue's characters are in the El Paso airport coffee shop, the theme to Amores Clandestinos (1959) can be heard in the background. Donahue starred in this movie one year earlier. This piece of music can also be heard in the movie O Erro de Susan Slade (1961).
Dana Andrews had starred in the airline disaster cult classic Entre a Vida e a Morte (1957) which was remade into Apertem os Cintos, o Piloto Sumiu (1980). Airplane was also a parody of the Airport films, especially Aeroporto 75 (1974), which also featured Andrews. And although this movie isn't regarded as having also influenced Airplane, much of that film is also made up of the passengers having flashbacks of their lives.