Homer embarks on a quest to find a new hangout after Moe kicks him out of his tavern. He settles for "The Little Black Box," a bar near the airport where drunken pilots congregate. Mistaken for a pilot, Homer is whisked into the cockpit of an airplane, where he promptly destroys the landing gear. Fearing public humiliation, the airline offers Homer free tickets to fly his entire family wherever they choose...in exchange for his silence. The Simpsons board a plane for New York, but before it takes off, Marge becomes hysterical. She admits she is afraid to fly. The Simpsons disembark and the trip is postponed.

Marge begins acting strangely. Lisa tells her father that Marge’s condition will continue to deteriorate if she does not seek professional help. Homer brings Marge to see Dr. Zweig, a psychiatrist, despite his suspicion that he will be blamed for his wife’s condition.

In Dr. Zweig’s office, Marge describes a recurring dream in which she is Dr. Maureen Robinson on the television show "Lost In Space." In the dream, Marge imagines that she is stranded on a desolate planet, crying out for her father not to leave her alone. With the psychiatrist’s encouragement, Marge relives her childhood. She recalls how shocked she was to discover that her father was not the airline pilot he had claimed to be-but was, in actuality, an airline steward. Zweig assures Marge that her father was a trailblazer who helped pave the way for other male flight attendants. Her illness cured, Marge boards a plane with Homer.