Standing room on airplanes a possibility

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Standing room on airplanes a possibility
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/0907/090709-air_travel.html
Contents
The Article
2

Warm-ups
3

Before Reading / Listening
4

While Reading / Listening
5

Listening Gap Fill
6

After Reading / Listening
7

Student Survey
8

Discussion
9

Language Work
10

Writing
11

Homework
12

Answers
13

July 9th, 2009
THE ARTICLE
The latest cost-cutting idea from budget airlines is for passengers to stand. Michael Ryan, the CEO of Ryanair, is seriously considering this option. Ryanair is one of Europe’s biggest airlines. It carried 5.84 million passengers in June, which is 13% more than a year earlier. Mr. Ryan says his airline is so popular because it is so cheap. Most of Ryanair’s flights are short hops to Europe. This makes the idea of standing for an hour or so on an airplane a workable one. Ryan said that many people stand for over an hour on a train, so it should be no problem on an airplane. He told reporters he would even be prepared to offer flights for free to passengers who stood. He said he could squeeze in 50 per cent more people and cut costs by 20 per cent.
Michael Ryan has changed the way many people think about air travel. His focus is on cutting out unnecessary services and so reducing fares. One idea he is still thinking about is to ask passengers to pay one euro (around a dollar) to use the toilet. He said he could remove two toilets on board the airplane and put in extra seats. The extra revenue would reduce costs and therefore the price of airline tickets. He said asking passengers to pay would encourage them to use the toilets at the airports. Ryan has also talked about a “fat tax” on overweight travelers. His standing room idea, however, might not take off. All airlines must stick to strict international safety standards. Everybody over the age of two must have a seat.

WARM-UPS
1. AIR TRAVEL: Walk around the class and talk to other students about air travel. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.
2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

cost cutting / passengers / cheap / standing up / Europe / free flights / squeezing / changing the way people think / air travel / airplane toilets / overweight / safety

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. STANDING: When is it OK to stand? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and talk about your ideas. Change again and share what you heard.

Do / Would you do this?
Why?

On a plane



At the cinema



In class



In a restaurant



At a concert



On a roller coaster



4. STANDING ROOM: Students A strongly believe standing room on an airplane is a great idea if it means cheaper fares; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
5. ECONOMY CLASS: What do you really need on an airplane for a 90-minute flight? Rate these and share your ratings with your partner: 10 = absolute necessity; 1 = no need at all. Change partners and share your ratings again.
_____ in-flight movie
_____ meal
_____ duty free
_____ toilet
 _____ a seat
_____ a life jacket
_____ a drink
_____ flight attendants

6. BUDGET: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘budget’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
BEFORE READING / LISTENING
1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
a.
An airline may offer passengers the option to stand.
T / F

b.
The airline is a small European carrier with very few passengers.
T / F

c.
The CEO believes people won’t mind standing up for about an hour.
T / F

d.
The CEO said he could squeeze another 50 passengers on a plane.
T / F

e.
Michael Ryan wants to focus on providing more services on his planes.