This study was based on a portion of data collected in the first half of a proposed two-part survey examining the effects of unstable airline working conditions on pilots and their families. The survey was a descriptive, exploratory investigation of two pilot groups (n = 425). Data were drawn from a random sample of those pilots (n = 205) employed by an airline with chronic unstable working conditions, and those pilots (n = 220) employed by airlines with stable conditions. Several major variables from a multi-dimensional systems model of stress were selected to evaluate differences in stress symptoms, life event strains, family resources, and perceptions of control between pilot groups and between spouse groups. A major hypothesis tested by this report was that increases in pilot stress symptomology would be related to unstable airline working conditions. When differences between pilot groups and spouse groups were analyzed on the Family Inventory of Life Events (FILE), a self report symptoms of stress scale (SOS), the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES III), and the Attribution Questionnaire, pilots and spouses found to have the highest stress symptoms and total family strains were those from the unstable airline. In addition, a large subtotal of pilot families across carriers were found to be low functioning families. The results of the study document the importance of unstable airline working conditions as an explanatory variable in examining pilot stress. It is suggested that understanding the pilot stress process depends on the recognition of work/family/individual systems interdependence. Implications of findings and directions for future research were presented. / M.S.