Love is in the Air is a run-of-the-mill romantic drama that revolves around a seaplane pilot and financier. Dana took pride in her job, and Fullerton Airways was her everything. Her mother, Clara, was obsessed with aviation and had started Fullerton Airways with the hope of providing support to the island community. The community would have remained shut off without aviation. Dana did the work that her mother once dreamed of. She prioritized helping a woman from the community reach the vet when her pet dog suffered a snakebite instead of an organized tour. While her decision was not financially suitable, she knew that providing help was the primary motto of Fullerton Airways. Helping Dana run the airline were her father, Jeff, and Nikki. Jeff was aware that the company was suffering immense losses, but he could not imagine shutting down the business. Things take a turn when William travels from London to Australia on behalf of his father’s company, ITCM Financial.
Spoiler Alert
What was William’s intention?
William desperately wanted to impress his father, and he aimed to do so with Fullerton Airways. He studied the airline’s data and learned that the company was no longer profitable. He proposed that it was best to shut down the business and sell the assets that were of some value to remove the debt the airline owed to the company. To William’s delight, his father approved of his proposal and advised him to travel to the Fullerton office to take a look at the books and the condition of the place before shutting it down. William arrived at Fullerton in the hopes of selling the business, but he gradually realized it was not as easy as he assumed it to be.
William noticed the love and passion that Dana had for the business. Even though the place was old and had only one airplane named Harriet, Dana, Jeff, and Niki were emotionally attached to the place. Dana offered William a chance to ride the airplane, and as nerve-wracking as the experience was, he was impressed by Dana’s flying skills. After flying with Dana, he realized why she was passionate about the remote air support system. There were people who were dependent on Fullerton Airways to bring their mail and supplies to them. Even though it did not generate profit, it was her way of giving back to the community. William was getting distracted from his goal, and his father repeatedly reminded him of the purpose of the visit.
The next morning, William was determined to stay focused and evaluate the financials, but once again, he got busy with some other work. Jeff asked William to help Dana drop the first aid kits, and he eventually agreed to it. The 51-year-old aircraft started to malfunction mid-air, and Dana had to make an emergency landing. While William wanted to ask for external help, Dana knew that it would take a lot of time and that it would be better if they fixed the plane themselves. She was an expert, and William helped her as much as he could. The aircraft was functional once again, and they safely returned to the hangar. Gradually, William started to get attached to Dana, Jeff, and Nikki. He saw their passion for the work, something that he did not experience while doing his job. He was no longer confident about his proposal, and he wanted to back out. But Duncan was not happy with his son’s progress, and he was not ready to accept any ifs and buts.
What happened to Fullerton Airways?
William stopped receiving his father’s phone calls and focused on the present. He felt a lot more at peace and at home with the Fullerton crew, especially with Dana. William was not content with his job, and he wanted to experience the same happiness that Dana did while flying an aircraft. He also started to appreciate the idea of looking out for one’s community, which was starkly in contrast with the world he grew up in, which promoted individual pursuits over everything else. William’s father had been mostly absent all his life, and he enjoyed watching the bond Dana shared with Jeff. William and Dana ended up spending hours talking about celestial constellations before William returned to his apartment. Just when things were getting slightly romantic between William and Dana, Duncan called, and he and William had a lengthy, heated discussion.
William tried to convince his father not to shut down the business, admitting that he did not understand the true potential of the airline, but after going through the numbers, Duncan was well aware that it was not a profitable operation. He refused to listen to William and ordered him to return home and carry on with the plan that he proposed. Nikki overheard William and Duncan’s conversation, and she informed Dana about it. Dana refused to listen to William’s explanation and called him out for stabbing them in the back. As the situation between Dana and William turned bitter, a cyclone unfolded. Dana searched for Jeff, but he was nowhere to be found. But ultimately, William managed to locate Jeff and bring him to the hangar. Even though Dana was thankful, she could not forgive William for proposing to shut down their business. Jeff, too, was disappointed in him when he found out.
At the end of the film, William explained how visiting Fullerton had changed his opinion, and he admitted that he started to care about the place because of Dana. He had learned a lot from the crew in Fullerton, and he was happy knowing that there were still people in the world who cared about others. William promised that he was going to find a solution to the problem. The next morning, while helping Dana supply emergency goods after the cyclone, William realized the importance of the remote air support system. People would have been stranded without basic necessities if Dana and her crew were not available for help. That night, Jeff received a letter announcing the shutting down of Fullerton Airways. William called his father and tried to convince him, but it did not work. After failing Dana and Jeff, William returned to London.
How did Dana change the fate of Fullerton Airways?
Dana was shattered when the business was shut down, but a statement made by Nikki helped her figure out a solution to the problem. During Love is in the Air‘s ending, Dana traveled to London to meet Duncan and the board members of ITCM Financial. She stormed into the meeting room and announced that she had a proposal that could benefit both parties. While Duncan was not ready to listen to her at all, William convinced him to allow her to speak. Dana proposed ITCM Financial to support their endeavor to expand the business. She believed that the only reason they failed to make a profit was because they were not multiplying in numbers. Dana wanted the family operation to turn into a full-grown business in the next two years and continue to support the community as they did before. Duncan was not ready to offer capital to a doomed business, and he stated that they were not equipped enough to operate on a large scale.
In the end, William finally stepped up and offered to work as the financial officer at Fullerton Airways. He expressed how he hated his job and wanted to start something fresh, and he was confident that his association with Fullerton Airways would yield fruitful results. It was not easy for Duncan to accept his son’s decision to leave his company and work in Australia, but at the same time, he was glad that William had found his passion. At the end of Love is in the Air, William joins the Fullerton crew in Australia. Over the years, they managed to expand as much as they had aimed to. Not only was the business idea a success, but Dana and William’s relationship was also steady and full of romance.
