After pulling a prank on Moe, Homer is banned from the bar and looks for another place to drink. He settles for "The Little Black Box" at the airport, but is mistaken for a pilot and whisked into the cockpit of an airplane, which he promptly damages. Fearing public humiliation, the airline gives Homer free tickets for the family. However, the idea of plane travel fills Marge with anxiety, and after a panic attack on the plane, the trip is postponed.

Marge begins to act strangely and Lisa convinces Homer that she needs professional help. Homer takes Marge to see a psychiatrist named Dr. Zweig, despite his fear that he will be blamed for his wife's condition.

Dr. Zweig gradually helps Marge remember back to the time she found out that her father was an airline steward and not a pilot, as she was told. Marge's shame is erased when Dr. Zweig tells her that her father helped clear the way for all of today's male stewards. Marge is cured of her anxiety.