Rivière

Rivière (ree-VYAY), the director of an air-mail service. Completely dedicated to making night flying regular in spite of all its attendant dangers, he imposes on his men a rigid discipline that is taken for callousness. When Fabien and his wireless operator are lost in a storm, Rivière’s deep concern reveals that his unbending severity springs not from any lack of feeling for his pilots but from a complete sense of consecration to his mission.

Fabien

Fabien (fah-BYAH[N]), a pilot. On a night flight carrying the mail from Patagonia to Buenos Aires, he and his wireless operator enter a violent storm and are lost. Their deaths prompt the revelation of Rivière’s real concern for his pilots in spite of his severe demands on them.

Robineau

Robineau (roh-bee-NOH), the inspector. Inclined to make friends with the pilots, he resents Rivière’s undeviating discipline and insistence that the supervisors maintain complete impersonality toward those whom they may have to send to their deaths. Only after Fabien is lost does he realize Rivière’s real concern for his men and experience a sense of communion with him.

Pellerin

Pellerin (peh-leh-RA[N]), a pilot who comes safely through the great storm in which Fabien is lost.

Mme Fabien

Mme Fabien, Fabien’s bride of six weeks, who hears from Rivière of the enormous price men must pay to conquer the skies. She understands.

Roblet

Roblet (roh-BLAY), an old former pilot.

Although Fabien's disappearance is the focal point of the short story Night Flight, it is Riviere who holds the central role. Modeled after Saint-Exupery's own Operational Director, Didier Daurat, to whom the story is dedicated, Riviere embodies the author's deep admiration and respect for his director. Riviere is a multifaceted character—stern but not devoid of humanity. When he demotes Riblet, a mechanic of twenty years, he feels sorrow for the decision he is compelled to make. Confronted by Fabien's wife, he masks his own grief, and the night flights persist. His internal monologues carry the philosophical weight of the story as he seeks to understand the purpose behind the perilous operations he oversees. Like a vigilant parent, he stays up all night, watching over his pilots. Andre Gide, who penned the preface to the book, praised Riviere and "the paradoxical truth . . . that man's happiness lies not in freedom, but in the acceptance of duty."

Fabien, the tragic hero of the narrative, is defined by his experiences in the sky: his exhilaration as he soars among the stars and his terror when he realizes all is lost. Less intricate than Riviere, he seems to reflect Saint-Exupery's own internal struggle between his love for a woman and his passion for flying, as he leaves his worried wife for his lengthy mission. Fabien desperately clings to life, which he ultimately loses by flying too high and tasting the forbidden fruit of the celestial stars. His real-life counterpart was the pilot Elysee Negrin, who disappeared in the waters of La Plata near Montevideo in May 1930, an event that inspired the story.

Among the minor characters, Robineau, the uncreative inspector who still craves companionship, is portrayed as a lonely yet loyal worker, tasked with the grim duty of delivering reprimands. Pellerin, whose name means pilgrim, successfully returns despite facing snowstorms, symbolizing man's triumph over nature's elements. Simone Fabien, the devoted young wife, distrusts her beloved's adventurous spirit and longs for his undivided attention, reminiscent of the medieval courtly love poems. Each character emerges as a true-to-life portrait, through their dialogue and actions.