3. Role-play. Split into two groups. One group are passengers, another – flight attendants.

F light attendants:

• greet the passengers on board,

• show them to their seats,

• assist with baggage stowing into overhead lockers,

• make safety announcements,

• check seat-belts are fastened,

• serve food and drinks to passengers,

• collect empty glasses, trays and all the rubbish,

• offer duty-free products,

• hand out customs and immigration forms,

• help the passengers leave the plane and say good-bye.

Passengers: ask all questions (e.g. Where is seat C34? Where is the toilet? Could I and my wife sit together? I’d like some tea, please. Could you bring me something to read? Can I unfasten my seat-belt?, etc.) and respond to flight attendants’ requests.

3. D iscuss the following with your classmates:

• Who has flown most in your group? Where to?

• Who has had the longest flight?

• Who has never flown in his / her life?

• What do you like most when flying? (speed, comfort, flight attendants serving food and drinks, complimentary products for kids like colouring books, watching films, etc.)

• What irritates you least / most while flying? (long queues at check-in, no trolleys, delayed flight, flight cancellations, security check point, pat down from same-gender security officer, bad food, seat belts, not enough rooms in toilets, jet lag, lost luggage, etc.)

• W hat do you think needs improvement in airline service?

Reading exercises:

3. Read the following text about abusive passengers: passengers behaving badly

The abusive passenger is becoming a world-wide problem. Delta Air Lines crew suffer 100 verbal and physical assaults a month, while cabin crews in some airlines are seeking early retirement at 50 because of their stressful work. One businessman was recently less than happy when airport staff told him his luggage had been lost. Already frustrated by a delayed flight, he stormed onto the runway, took out a pistol and shot out the aircraft’s front tyre.

The cause of most passenger misbehavior is stress, according to Farrol Kahn, director of the Aviation Health Institute. Overcrowding and queuing at the airport raises adrenaline levels. Normally these levels decrease through gaining control of a situation, both by standing up and fighting or by running. Instead, passengers are kept in cramped conditions on an aircraft, where they have no control. “In these circumstances, they wait for one little excuse and then let rip,” says Dr. Kahn. In one recent case, a 70-year-old hit a steward after being told there was no more steak.

Much of the abuse is down to alcohol. It was reported that 202 out of 708 major incidents noted by a US carrier over a 6-month period were alcohol-related. 74 incidents were smoking-related: more carries are banning on-board smoking, leading the nicotine-dependent into conflict as they try to have a secret cigarette.

F rom Financial Times