The plot follows the Griffin family's neighbor Quagmire being dismissed from his job as a pilot after Peter sabotages his airplane by emptying the fuel tank, causing it to crash.
Written by Tom Devanney and directed by John Holmquist, the episode received mostly positive reviews from critics.
Peter paints a large patriotic and anti-abortion message on the rear window of his pickup, which obscures his view and causes him to reverse into Quagmire's car, destroying it.
Shortly after takeoff, Peter, Joe and Cleveland drug the pilots and call for help, only for them to find Quagmire is not on board because he was having sex with a woman at the check-in desk.
Feeling reinvigorated, he goes off to the air traffic control tower and, via radio, gives Peter detailed instructions on how to land the plane safely.
[2] The scenario of the airplane crash survivor slapping his wife eight times was toned down to four on the Fox airing and the syndicated version.
[2][3] There is also a crotch shot of Peter getting out of Paris Hilton's car, which was censored with pixelization on TV, but shown uncensored on DVD.
Peter imagining flying his pickup truck through the air and greeting fighter jet pilots is a reference to Top Gun.
[2] After Quagmire crashes the plane, his co-pilot is shown to be Nien Nunb, a reference to 1983 science-fiction film Return of the Jedi.
[2] In a very slight improvement over the previous week, the episode was viewed in 8.59 million homes in its original airing, according to Nielsen ratings.
[6] In a review of Family Guy, Volume five, Nancy Basile regarded "Airport '07," alongside "Prick Up Your Ears," and "Barely Legal" as "gem episodes.
"[7] Ahsan Haque of IGN commented "When Family Guy is at its best, audiences are typically presented with an overwhelming barrage of cultural references, some disturbing imagery, and usually left with a sufficiently catchy musical number — all put together to tell a somewhat cohesive story.