It includes cover versions of "My Opening Farewell" and "Dimming of the Day", originally recorded by Jackson Browne and Richard Thompson, respectively.

[1] Thom Jurek of AllMusic gave Paper Airplane four-stars, describing it as melancholy, with songs revolving around themes of trial and perseverance.

[4] Andrew Greer of Christianity Today also honored Paper Airplane with four stars, finding it "an exquisite eleven-song canon," and added: "Though their haunts are heavy-hearted, a tangible hope pervades Airplane, attesting to the band's spiritual sensitivity even without the band's usual faith song standout.

Raising Sand, Krauss's collaboration with Robert Plant, reached number two on the Billboard 200 upon its release in 2007.

[9] Paper Airplane was a minor hit in Europe, debuting in the top forty of several European countries, such as the Norwegian Albums Chart.