''Starflight'', the first hypersonic transport is being prepared for a media-covered inaugural flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia, a planned two-hour flight. The passengers bring some of their problems on board: the pilot, Cody Briggs (Lee Majors), is unfaithful to his wife Janet (Tess Harper) and having an affair with the media relations representative for Thornwell Aviation, Erica Hansen (Lauren Hutton). Hal Parisi (Phil Coccoioletti) married another passenger because she won the trip on TV, but he is only interested in getting his stolen gold out of the country. Freddie Barrett (Terry Kiser) is trying to get his communications satellite launched from Australia to start his business carrying television signals. ''Starflight''’s takeoff is delayed a short time so that the deceased Australian ambassador and his wife, Mrs. Winfield, can be taken aboard. Del (Kirk Scott), the first officer, remembers that nothing good happened the last time a corpse came aboard his aircraft. Finally, Josh Gilliam, the designer (Hal Linden), has misgivings, wishing the engines were under ground control.