Foscari - Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica

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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 30
3. Ariana is banned from most European and US airports because of: a. its safety record b. its pilots c. UN sanctions 4. The flight to Kandahar in 1989 crashed because of: a. engine failure b. an American missile c. a fight between the pilot and co-pilot Match the words in the left-hand column with those in the right hand column to make phrases from the text: 1. safety a. failure 2. flight b. centre 3. rescue c. standard 4. boarding d. plan 5. engine e. schedule 6. flight f. pass 7. sales g. class 8. business h. simulator Complete the table: Adjective Noun 1. safe ___________ 2. disastrous ___________ 3. different ___________ 4. corrupt ___________ 5. incompetent ___________ 6. proud ___________ 7. enthusiastic ___________ 8. successful ___________ Fill the gaps using an appropriate preposition. Check your answers in the text. 1. different _______ 2. advantage _______ 3. get rid _______ 4. fall _______ the sky 5. _______ bad _______ worse 6. a process _______ change 7. increase _______ 10 _______ 15 8. 85% of flights are _______ time Discussion Would you travel with this airline? Why? Why not? 31
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