The original story line of this episode saw Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) sitting next to a guy who died on the plane. It was based on a real life experience of producer Joan Van Horn. The story was thought to be too dark so was replaced with the story line that went to air.
This was one of actor Larry Charles's (who had an uncredited role as the stinky man exiting the plane's washroom) 4 appearances on Seinfeld. He is best known as a staff writer for Seinfeld for its first 5 seasons, contributing some of the show's darkest and most absurd story-lines.
George's line "But ya are, Blanche! Ya are in the shackles" refers to Baby Jane Hudson (Bette Davis)'s line to her sister Blanche (Joan Crawford) in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962): "But ya are, Blanche! Ya are in that chair!"
Although Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) are flying a fictional airline, the plane exteriors shown in the episode belong to Southwest Airlines' planes.