In terms of technique, Airport conforms to the pattern devised by Hailey early in his career to create novels that, although slick and predictable, at their best are well-packaged, fast-paced and readable. Narrated episodically, the action covers the short period of a grave crisis that serves two thematic purposes. It threatens to upset the functioning of the institution and therefore offers the occasion for a close look at the institution itself. It generates the tension that brings the characters' intimate problems to a turning point, giving them the opportunity to reveal their heroic or villainous qualities. As a matter of fact, in the course of a single night, everything seems to go wrong. To cite just the main events, there is a terrible blizzard and snow blocks a badly-needed runway; a tremendous in-flight emergency ensues after Guerrero's bomb blows a hole in Demerest's plane, in the process disfiguring...