Donna Jensen, living in a
Nevada trailer with her alcoholic mother and abusive stepfather, desperately wants to get away. After graduating high school, Donna struggles to earn a living working as a clerk in a
Big Lots store with her high school boyfriend. After her boyfriend leaves her, Donna sees a TV interview with Sally Weston, a former flight attendant who wrote a memoir titled,
My Life in the Sky. Donna becomes a
flight attendant for Sierra Airlines, a small, seedy
regional airline. She works with senior attendant Sherry and Christine Montgomery. During this time, she meets law student drop-out Ted Stewart. Donna wants to apply to Royalty Airlines and convinces Sherry and Christine to do the same. While Christine and Donna are hired, Sherry is not, and she remains with Sierra. Donna studies hard, and, after meeting Sally, is determined to be assigned to the top position, "Paris, First Class, International". After training, Donna is shocked and disappointed to be assigned to a domestic route in Cleveland while Christine, who struggled during the training and learning the material, inexplicably is assigned the high-priority
New York City route. Although unhappy in
Cleveland, Donna runs into Ted, who has returned to law school. They begin a relationship and spends Christmas with Ted and his family. A few months later, Donna runs into Christine. As they spend time together, Donna is shocked that Christine has stolen Royalty Air items in her handbag, because even the smallest theft could result in termination. Donna suspects some error occurred in her route assignment. With Sally's help, Donna discovers that Christine switched their test I.D. numbers during their final exam. Weston has airline security spy on Christine. Caught stealing, she is fired. Donna re-takes the exam, achieving a perfect score. She is assigned to a Paris, First Class, International route, though it means ending her relationship with Ted. Donna soon realizes that she is lonely and unhappy, and she misses Ted. With Sally's encouragement, she returns to Cleveland and she and Ted reconcile. The film ends with Donna wishing her passengers well as they land in Cleveland, though it reveals that she is now a pilot. ==Cast==