Christopher Null wrote in 2000, "With one grandiose entrance, "Airport" ushered in a genre of moviemaking that is still going strong -- the disaster movie ... Too bad the 'disaster' doesn't happen until 2 hours into the 2:15 movie. No matter -- "Airport"'s unending sequels and spoofs are a testament that this film is a true piece of Americana, for good or for bad." Despite the film being one of the most profitable of Burt Lancaster's career, he called it "a piece of junk."