The holographic ship that Capt Mercer is called to assist is referred to as the "Bleriot", following the other aviation themed clues, this is probably a nod to Louis Blériot, French inventor and aviator who was the first to cross the English channel in his model XI monoplane in 1909.
The director of this episode, Robert Duncan McNeill, played Helmsman Tom Paris in Star Trek: Voyager (1995).
First appearance of Alara Katin's eyebrows. The initial intention was that her species lacked eyebrows, but the producers were unhappy with the look and changed their minds after Old Wounds (2017) was filmed. Actress Halston Sage even shaved off her own eyebrows for the role and consequently had to have false eyebrows applied for the rest of the season.
The chain of command of the Orville is established down to the fourth officer: Ed Mercer is the captain, Kelly Grayson is first officer, Bortus is second officer, Alara is third officer, and Claire Finn is fourth officer. This ties The Orville with Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) in its establishment of the chain of command on a similarly themed show (TNG's chain of command went Picard, Riker, Data, Worf, La Forge). No other Star Trek show has established a chain of command that far down, with many not going beyond the position of first or second officer. Uniquely to The Orville, neither the first nor second officers have any other role on the ship beyond command, while in Star Trek only the captain and sometimes the first officer are without other duties (Spock and T'Pol, for example, both served as science officer on their respective Enterprises in addition to their role as second-in-command).
The plot is similar to People Are Alike All Over (1960), The Cage (1966), and A Day at the Zoo (1967).