A comprehensive appreciation of mechanisms regulating epithelial maintenance and repair in pulmonary airways is fundamental to our understanding of tissue remodeling and dysfunction in chronic lung disease. This review provides an update on current concepts that have emerged from recent work in the field of airway epithelial repair and progenitor cell biology. New models to investigate the behavior of lung epithelial progenitor cells have provided fresh insights into their regulation and organization, and help to clarify their roles in normal maintenance and repair. Emerging technologies for the fractionation and culture of lung epithelial cells also provide opportunities to investigate the behavior and regulation of progenitor cell subsets in controlled systems. These advances hold promise for development of new strategies to modulate epithelial cell behavior and to effect tissue repair in the setting of lung disease.