Foscari - Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica

The early years were very different. Ariana was founded in 1955 and quickly gained a reputation as a
small but proud regional carrier. It flew hippies and adventurers from London, Paris and Frankfurt and
brought honeymooning couples from neighbouring Pakistan. But in 1973, King Zahir Shah was
overthrown and five years later a civil war began. The visitors vanished and Ariana, like the rest of
Afghanistan, suffered very badly.
During the 10-year Soviet occupation, when the roads were too dangerous, Ariana became the safest
way to travel. But the sense of security was relative. The mujahideen fighters who were fighting the
Soviet forces were armed with American anti-aircraft missiles. So Ariana pilots had to learn how to
avoid the missiles while taking off and landing. Some staff could take no more. On a flight to Kandahar
in 1989, a fight broke out between the pilot and the co-pilot. The pilot wanted to fly the plane to Iran.
The co-pilot did not want to go. As they fought for the controls, the plane fell out of the sky, crashing
into the desert near the Iranian border. All six people on board died.
After the Soviet departure the airline went from bad to worse. When the Taliban took control of Kabul
a year later, they brought their 7th century ideas to Ariana's 20th-century business. They sent the
stewardesses home, banned inflight music and gave the job of director to a 26-year-old religious
fanatic.
The UN imposed an international flight ban on the airline as part of UN sanctions against the Taliban.
The company's reputation for disaster got bigger as its fleet of ageing aircraft got smaller. The former
prime minister died in a 1997 crash; two accidents in 1998 killed about 100 people. In 2000, a flight
from Kabul to Mazar-i-Sharif was hijacked to Stansted airport in the UK.
In 2001, the US led an international invasion of Afghanistan. This should have saved Ariana but
instead it almost destroyed the company. US planes bombed the Ariana fleet, destroying six of its eight
planes. The Taliban took $500,000 in company cash and ran.
Now a process of change has begun. The number of flights has increased from 10 to 15 a week. Ariana
management says 85% of flights are on time. Ariana made a modest $1m profit last year. At Kabul
airport the mechanics have new tools and new pilots are being trained. The old Kabul office will close
soon and a modern sales centre, complete with young, enthusiastic staff and computerised booking,
will open soon.
Meanwhile Atash plans to ask half his 1,700 staff to stay at home but continue their pay. "We are
building the system with completely new people. We cannot mix them with the corrupt old ones," says
Atash. Success is not guaranteed, however, and there is now a battle for control of the company. "We're
going to fight all the way," Atash promises. "Because the other option is to sit here and do nothing.
And that's not an option - either for Ariana or for Afghanistan."
Choose the best answer to each question:
1. Most of the current staff at Ariana are:
a. hard-working
b. lazy and corrupt
c. new
2. The situation at Ariana is:
a. getting worse
b. getting better
c. dangerous
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