The Joseph D. Hutchinson United Airlines Slides and Film is a collection of 232 color photographic slides and some 8mm film footage taken by Hutchinson documenting his time as a pilot for United Airlines (UAL) in the mid-twentieth century. The slides are arranged into two groups following Hutchinson's original arrangement: Airports and Aircraft, and People. Within each grouping, slides are organized chronologically.

The first group of 118 slides are predominantly of airports where Hutchinson was flying to or from and the aircraft he saw at those airports. Because Hutchinson primarily flew routes in the Western United States, the locations depicted are also mostly in that area. Identified locations and airports in the images include: Burbank, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, California; Denver, Colorado; Hilo, Hawaii; Boise, Idaho; Chicago, Illinois; Portland, Oregon; Reno, Nevada; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Sea-Tac Airport in Washington State. A UAL counter at Boston, Massachusetts is also depicted, as well a few shots at international locations, including Zurich, Switzerland and Lisbon, Portugal. The aircraft depicted in the slides include Douglas DC-3, DC-6, DC-7, and DC-8s; as well as Boeing 247, 720, and 727s. Images of aircraft include shots of engines, cockpits, plane exteriors at terminals, and planes during refueling. While most photos of people are in the next grouping, the images in this file do include some people as well.

The 114 photographs of people consist of a mix of informal portraits and candid scenes. The people depicted are predominantly other white, male, United Airlines pilots, co-pilots and engineers. Many are pictured in the flight decks of planes during flight, though some are also of people boarding or disembarking planes or with aircraft parked at airports. Among the identified people are: Dick Allen, H.J. Anderson, J.L. "Doc" Bailey, Curly Baker, Jerry Beyer, Don Birlew, Carl Bruce, Carl Buchanan, John Carlson, Pat Carter, Frank J. Christel, Jim D. Coggin, Win Coomer, J.R. Cratty, Ken Drake, D.E. Dyer, Ken Eckley, H.M. Erickson, L.E. Farnsworth, Chuck Gasch, Laurel J. Gephart, C.P. Graham, Tom Graham, Wiley E. Harrington, Jess Hawes, Lowell Heacock, Les Holst, Harry Hoover, Don Horn, A.R. Houghlund, L.J. Hutchinson, T.S. Jobson, Norm Knopinski, F.E. Frank Loomis, Stan Lundeen, P.A. Martinez, J. Matthews, W.K. McDowell, A.C. McFarling, Norm D. Miller, Warren Mugler, Ben Mugleston, Walt Muller, Frank Murphy, Pat Murphy, Tom Olson, R.L. Perry, Irv Rausch, Bob Refvem, D.B. Richardon, Ed Riehl, Frank Rushmore, J.A. Schoon, Dewey Searle, L.A. Simon, C.F. Skannal, R.L. Spicklemier, Ralph L. Stamps, R.L. Stevens, John Taylor, N.F. Timper, Max Tomich, Vig Vaughan, Webb Wallop, E.W. Willis, and Everett Wilson. There are a few women pictured, all of whom appear to be flight attendants. They are identified as: Stewardess Berg, Miss Bruckner, Stewardess Crawford, Stewardess Gaffney, Dorothy Smith, and Stewardess Spear. Hutchinson is himself in some shots as is his wife Eleanor.

All images are 35mm color slides. Hutchinson identified all of his images with date, location, and names or initials of individuals pictured.

The film includes 11 minutes of varied footage, most in black-and-white but some segments in color. Scenes include footage taken from a plane as it lands at an airport with UAL hangars visible; aerial footage over fields, roads, mountains, water, and neighborhoods in an unidentified city; a UAL DC-3 Mainliner on a tarmac; aerial footage from an open-cockpit plane with shots of the pilot; unidentified pilots and a flight attendant next to a UAL aircraft; aicraft landing and taxiing at an unidentified airport; views of aircraft engines during flight; and pilots and crew during flights. A clip at the end shows an unidentified location, possibly an island in the South Pacific and includes some indigenous people.