Dean takes on his first assignment since his promotion, piloting the Clipper Majestic on its inaugural New York to London flight. Bridget is supposed to be his lead stewardess, until she's a no-show for the flight. Grounded purser Maggie is called in to fill in for her. On the same fateful flight, Kate adds another dimension to her work as she takes on her first assignment from U.S. intelligence.

On a trip to Paris, Kate and Laura have a surprise passenger - their mum - who has come to settle some unfinished business with Laura. Meanwhile, Maggie faces the unwanted attentions of an aggressive passenger.

A flight ferrying journalists to Berlin to cover an important speech by John F. Kennedy provides Maggie a chance to meet the U.S. President.

After a last minute change sends the crew on a flight to Rangoon, a routine courier mission for Kate turns harrowing as she struggles to make a drop by the deadline. Meanwhile, Maggie takes naive Laura under her wing and shows her the wilder side of the city and news of a space mission leads Ted to reflect on his own past and what his powerful family connections have cost him.

Kate discovers the man she and Maggie have been competing for is involved in her next mission; Dean puts his career at risk when an attractive passenger tempts him.

As Maggie (Christina Ricci) tries to save her job by adding to the long list of lies she’s already told to get hired by Pan Am, Dean’s (Mike Vogel) affair with the mistress of the airline’s vice president gets serious. Meanwhile, Kate’s growing affection for a Yugoslavian diplomat draws her deeper into the world of international espionage.