English for Cabin Crew Trainer's Guide - Heinle

English for 

Cabin Crew 

Trainer’s Guide 

Mike Sayer

English for Cabin Crew Trainer’s Guide 

Mike Sayer 

Publisher: Nick Sheard 

Development Editor: Darina Richter 

Marketing & Communications Manager: 

Michelle Cresswell 

Content Project Editor: Amy Smith 

Text Designer: Oxford Designers & Illustrators 

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Contents 

Introduction 4 

Unit 1 The pre-fl ight briefi ng 

Meeting colleagues 5 

Finding out about the fl ight 6 

Case study 7 

Unit 2 Welcome on board 

Welcoming passengers 8 

Settling passengers in their seats 9 

Demonstrating safety procedure and checking before take-off 10 

Case study 11 

Unit 3 After take-off and into the fl ight 

Making the fi rst announcements 12 

Getting started 13 

Helping to settle passengers 14 

Case study 15 

Unit 4 Food and drinks 

Giving a choice 16 

Serving drinks 17 

Duty-free sales 18 

Case study 19 

Unit 5 Minor passenger problems 

Identifying passenger problems 20 

Dealing with problems 21 

Saying sorry 22 

Case study 23 

Unit 6 Is there a doctor on board? 

Dealing with an on-board accident 24 

Dealing with a serious medical incident 25 

Reporting a medical incident 26 

Case study 27 

Unit 7 In-fl ight emergencies 

Taking charge in an emergency 28 

Preparing for an emergency evacuation 29 

Reporting and evacuation 30 

Case study 31 

Unit 8 Complaints and disruptive passengers 

Responding to passenger complaints 33 

Dealing with complaints about other passengers 34 

Managing disruptive passengers 35 

Case study 36 

Unit 9 Preparing for landing 

Making fi nal announcements and checks 38 

Giving information about delayed landings 39 

Getting through the fi nal ten minutes 40 

Case study 41 

Unit 10 Saying goodbye 

Arriving at the gate and disembarking the passengers 43 

Taking part in the crew debriefi ng 44 

Case study 45 

3

Introduction 

English for Cabin Crew is for people working in the aviation industry who want to improve their 

communication skills, vocabulary, pronunciation and grammatical accuracy. 

The Student’s Book is designed so that your students can use it on their own. The Trainer’s Guide facilitates 

use of the Student’s Book in class. 

WHAT’S IN ENGLISH FOR CABIN CREW STUDENT’S BOOK? 

English for Cabin Crew is the perfect companion to the cabin crew training manual. It follows the real-time 

working routines of fl ight attendants, from pre-fl ight briefi ngs to disembarkation, from ‘gate to gate’. It 

follows the operational procedures of the cabin crew and their progress through the different stages of both 

long-haul and short-haul fl ights, facing the challenges of boarding, safety demonstrations, serving meals, 

diffi cult passengers, possible medical incidents and emergency situations, pre-landing stress, and eventually 

of reviewing a job well done. 

English for Cabin Crew is full of key expressions, of the right thing to say in English on the right occasion. 

More than this, it presents real job situations and typical passenger and cabin crew exchanges in which the 

language used is correct, authentic and actual. 

• The Listening section invites you to listen to a real dialogue, and answer questions on it to make sure you 

fully understand what is happening. 

• The Language Focus explores how to use key expressions in English. 

• The Speaking section provides practice to make you confi dent of using the key expressions correctly. 

• The Reading and Vocabulary sections help to consolidate and build on the language you learn. 

Each unit presents a different part of the routine on board. Throughout the book there are plenty of 

examples of real situations, plenty of vocabulary, plenty of opportunities for students to apply what they 

have learned to their own job – all the time speaking and listening to English. 

By the time students reach the end of the Student’s Book, they should be confi dent about using clear and 

uncomplicated English to … 

• perform all normal duties on board 

• address passengers’ problems 

• handle diffi cult situations. 

WHAT’S IN ENGLISH FOR CABIN CREW TRAINER’S GUIDE? 

The Trainer’s Guide contains information on how to use and exploit the Student’s Book content in class. 

The ideas for exploiting the exercises focus on making the classroom experience as interactive as possible. 

Additional activities and methodological notes focus on personalization, role play and whole-class activities, 

and dealing with common errors. 

Extra features 

• Lead in – suggestions for warm-up activities 

• Pre-teaching vocabulary – lists of key words with defi nitions 

• Vocabulary in context – additional vocabulary tasks using reading texts from the Student’s Book 

• Pronunciations notes – suggestions for teaching and dealing with stress and intonation diffi culties 

• Language notes – additional grammar references and teaching suggestions 

• Round up – additional pair and group work activities to review each lesson 

4

UNIT 

1 The pre-fl ight briefi ng 

LEAD IN Speaking 

Ask students, Which people attend a pre-fl ight briefi ng? Where 

does it usually take place? What information do you fi nd out? Tell 

students to imagine they are about to have a pre-fl ight briefi ng. 

Ask them to work in pairs to think of questions to ask to fi nd out 

information at the briefi ng. Elicit questions from the pairs and 

write them on the board. Decide as a class which are the most 

useful questions. 

Meeting colleagues 

Pre-teaching vocabulary 

Check the following key words: briefi ng (short meeting at which you get 

information); shuttle (train that goes from one terminal to another at 

an airport); roster (timetable that says when you are working); turbulent 

(when winds make the plane move up and down); off sick (not working 

because you are ill); long-haul (long distance). 

EXERCISE 1 Listening 

Give students time to read through the situation and questions and 

discuss them in pairs before playing the recording. You could ask 

students if they can guess what Paola, Tom and Jenny say in answer 

to questions 2, 3 and 4. Play the recording. Students listen and then 

discuss their answers in pairs. Get feedback in open class at the end. 

Answers 

1 Boston 2 ‘My name’s Paola, by the way.’ 3 ‘Hi, Paola. I’m Tom. It’s nice 

to meet you.’ 4 ‘Sorry, what’s your name?’ 5 They are not sure. Possibly. 

6 in ten minutes’ time 


Give students time to read through the situation and questions. Ask 

students to discuss the questions in pairs before playing the recording. 

Play the recording. Students listen and then discuss their answers in 

pairs. Get feedback in open class at the end. 

Answers 

1 F – they greet each other by name. 

2 F – ‘We’ve met before.’ 

3 T 

4 F – she wants to do some shopping there. 

5 T 

6 F – it was Jenny who spilled the drinks. 

7 F – Katrin isn’t. 


Give students time to read through the situation and questions. Ask 

students to discuss the questions in pairs before playing the recording. 



Answers 

1 Ted 2 in Business 3 in Economy 4 It’s her fi rst long-haul fl ight. 

5 Leila and Hemal 6 at Door 4 Left 

INTRODUCTIONS Language focus 

Give students time to read through the phrases in the box. Alternatively, 

read out the phrases and ask students to read and follow. Ask students, 

Which phrases are more formal? (Pleased to meet you, Could you tell me 

your name, please? and This is my colleague are more formal.) 

EXERCISE 4 Pronunciation 

Play the recording. Ask students to listen and repeat. 

Pronunciation notes 

It is important to use a wide intonation pattern in English when 

introducing yourself in order to sound friendly and polite. Make sure 

students attempt a wide intonation pattern. 

➚➘ 

Pleased to meet you. 

➚➘➚ ➚➘ ➚ 

Excuse me, could you tell me your name, please? 

➘ ➚ 

Fine thanks. And you? 

EXERCISE 5 Speaking 

A good way of organizing this is to ask students to sit with a colleague 

they have never met or don’t know very well, and tell them to introduce 

themselves. Then ask each pair to join with a new pair. They must 

now introduce their colleague to the other pair. If the cabin crew in 

your group all know each other, tell them to pretend. As students 

are practising, walk round, listen, and prompt students to use good 

pronunciation. At the end, praise any good examples of language use and 

correct any errors you heard. 


Check the vocabulary by asking students to label the items in the 

pictures. Ask students to work in small groups to discuss which items 

they take. Get feedback in open class. 

ROUND UP 

Write NAME, NATIONALITY, AIRLINE on the board. Then tell 

students to invent a false identity (for example, I’m William, 

I’m Scottish, and I work for BA). Tell the students to stand up, 

walk round, and introduce themselves to each other. Tell them 

they have to meet everybody and remember as many names as 

they can. At the end, ask two or three students to introduce fi ve 

people to the class, using the imaginary names and nationalities. 

This extends exercise 5 and provides further practice of the 

language of the unit. 

5

UNIT 

6 

1 The pre-fl ight briefi ng 


Ask students, Why is the pre-departure meeting important? Elicit 

students' ideas and suggestions. Ask, What is your role at a predeparture 

meeting? Can you describe a time when you were given 

unusual information just before a fl ight? 

Finding out about the flight 


Check the following key words: coordination of duties (the organisation of 

what everybody has to do on the plane); en route (during the journey). 


Give students time to read the reasons individually and think about the 

order. Ask students to discuss in pairs. Get feedback in open class and 

agree on a ‘correct’ order. Encourage students to express reasons why 

some things are more important, or to add other reasons to the list. 

Answers 

Possible order: 4, 2, 3, 5, 6, 1 


Check the following key words: turbulence (movement due to strong 

winds); warning (advance notice of a possible problem); strapped in 

(wearing a seatbelt for safety). 



discuss them in pairs before playing the recording. You could ask 

students if they can guess what any answers might be. Play the 

recording. Students listen then discuss their answers in pairs. Get 

feedback in open class at the end. 

Answers 

1 his fi rst offi cer, Rick Schultz 2 that they have a quick fl ight time to 

Boston 3 the weather during the fl ight 4 turbulence expected after 3½ 

hours 5 the main cabin service 6 fi nish the meal and drinks service early 

7 that the crew know the cockpit procedures 

EXERCISE 3 Vocabulary 

Give students time to write the missing words and discuss them in pairs. 

Then read out the answers and check the meaning. 

Answers 

1 moderate 2 strong 3 over 4 strapped 5 cockpit 

CHECKING AND CLARIFYING Language focus 


read out the phrases and ask students to read and follow. Check the 

meaning of check and confi rm (to make sure that the information I have 

is correct) and clarify (to make sure that the information I have is clear 

and not confused). 

Language notes 

Note that with an indirect question, the word order after the question 

word does not invert. So, Can I check what the fl ight time is? NOT Can I 

check what is the fl ight time? 




When checking and clarifying, speakers use a rising intonation to 

suggest being tentative and unsure. Make sure students attempt a rising 

intonation pattern. 

➚ 

Can I clarify something? 


A good way of organizing this is to ask students to work in pairs to 

prepare questions to ask. Walk round and make sure they are forming 

questions correctly. Then mix pairs. Students ask and answer with their 

new partner. Walk round, listen, and prompt students to use good 

pronunciation. At the end, praise any good examples of language use and 

correct any errors you heard. 

EXERCISE 6, 7 and 8 Speaking 

These activities get students talking about their personal experiences. 

Choose whether to discuss all or just one or two of these questions. 

Decide whether to do them in groups of four with one student leading 

the discussion, or to do them as an open class discussion. 


Do this as a pyramid discussion. Ask students in pairs to make a list. 

Then put each pair with another pair to compare lists and refi ne their 

own lists. Then build up a list on the board. Correct errors and add any 

words students need but don’t know. 

Note that the reading text in the Case study that follows this lesson 

describes pre-boarding procedures, so this activity could work as a 

lead in to that text. 

ROUND UP 

To extend exercise 6, you could brainstorm and teach weather 

words. Elicit and check the following words connected with severe 

weather conditions: turbulent; storms; stormy; rain; strong winds; 

windy; gales; hurricanes; blizzard; fog; foggy; frost; frosty; snow; 

ice; icy; thunder; lightning; cloudy.

UNIT 

1 Case study 


Write Getting ready for work on the board. Ask students to think 

of three things they always do before going to work. Then tell 

them to discuss their ideas with a partner. Have an open class 

discussion and fi nd out if anyone has an unusual routine. 

Lead in to the reading by asking students to make their own 

list of things a fl ight attendant has to check before passengers 

board. Then, when students read, ask them for similarities and 

differences between the list in the text and their lists. 

EXERCISE 1 Reading 

Ask students to read the text and fi nd answers to the questions. Let 

students discuss the answers in pairs before discussing in open class. 

Answers 

1 the emergency equipment, the safety instruction card, the number of 

meals on board, the usual drinks trolley and duty-free goods, and that 

the toilets are all stocked with the necessary hand towels and tissues 

2 security and the aircraft’s safety features 

Vocabulary in context 

You could get students to fi nd and revise words in the text that are 

connected with their job. Ask students in pairs to fi nd words for each of 

the categories below: 

People on a plane: crew, purser, passengers, staff, captain 

Things on a plane: carry-on bag, uniform, emergency equipment, exits, 

seat pocket, safety instruction card, drinks trolley, duty free goods, toilets 


The aim here is to get students talking about their personal experiences. 


think of responses. Ask them to discuss their responses in pairs or small 

groups. After a few minutes, get one student from each pair or group to 

briefl y summarize the main points of their discussion. 


Give students time to read through the things and check any diffi cult 

words. Then ask students to discuss them in pairs before ending with a 

brief open class discussion. 


You could pre-teach some of the key adjectives used in the interview. 

Write the following on the board and check the meaning and 

pronunciation: terrifying; intense (not relaxed); nerve-wracking (very 

worried); exciting; relaxing, stern (strict, severe); tense (not relaxed); 

informative; enjoyable; interesting; serious; poignant (sad). Ask students 

which of these words best describe a briefi ng meeting. 

EXERCISE 4 and 5 Listening 

Give students time to read the situation and questions in exercise 4. Play 

the recording. Students listen and then discuss their answers in pairs. 

Get feedback in open class at the end. 

Follow the same procedure for exercise 5. 

Answers 

1 She was partly terrifi ed and very excited. 

2 The actual content was always the same; the atmosphere could be 

different – sometimes friendly, sometimes tense. 

3 VIPs / celebrities, passengers who are travelling for sad reasons, such 

as to visit someone who is sick or has had an accident. 

CD1 Track 1.7 

1 What do you remember about your fi rst pre-fl ight briefi ng? 

S: My fi rst fl ight was a mixture of emotions. I was partly terrifi ed and very 

excited. I was terrifi ed because the training we'd been given over the six 

weeks was quite intense and I knew that arriving at the briefi ng room I 

would be asked a series of questions and I had to get those answers right 

to show that my training profi ciency was up to standard so that was very 

nerve-wracking, but I was also really, really excited – I was, you know, part 

of this team that was going to be taking a fl ight with, you know, a 100 or so 

passengers from one country to another and that was just unbelievable. 

2 Were these briefi ngs always the same? 

S: The actual content of the briefi ng was always the same. However, depending 

on the human factor with different people you're working with, some people, 

those in charge, would help create a friendlier environment so you could relax 

a little more and others would put the fear of God into you because, you know, 

their sternness, their facial expressions, etcetera, so it was always very tense 

going into those pre-briefi ngs and you never quite knew what the atmosphere 

would be, but on the whole it was, it was the same in content. 

3 What was the common theme? 

S: Having worked for a number of different airlines, both charter work and 

scheduled international and short-haul, there was a common theme with the 

pre-briefi ngs throughout the industry and that was primarily safety and, of 

course, passenger information. Those briefi ngs were used as an opportunity to 

inform and advise the crew of what type of passengers they were having on 

board; the service that day, but predominantly it was safety related. One of 

the things I really enjoyed about the pre-fl ight briefi ngs was the opportunity 

to meet the crew that you would be working with that day or that week and 

getting to know about the fl ight and, you know, the particular idiosyncrasies 

that would occur. For example, on some fl ights we may have VIPs and that 

was always exciting to know that you're carrying someone, you know, of a 

celebrity status or it may be that you're carrying, you know, a passenger who 

has, you know, got to travel through sad reasons. Perhaps her daughter living 

out in New Zealand has just had a serious accident and she’s travelling to New 

Zealand to, to visit her sick daughter. All of those opportunities to fi nd out 

about the fl ight – some were more poignant than others, but it was always 

very interesting and exciting. A really, really nice opportunity to get to know 

about the day ahead. 


Divide the class into pairs or small groups to discuss the questions. 

Get open class feedback, and encourage students with interesting 

experiences to share with the class. 

ROUND UP 

Revise vocabulary from the unit by asking students to write 

words and phrases connected with the industry under the 

following headings: 

People / Duties / Parts of the plane / Weather 

Ask students to work in pairs to write all the words and phrases 

they know, or to search the unit to fi nd words and phrases to 

write. 

7

UNIT 

2 Welcome on board 


Ask students, What jobs do you have to do just before passengers 

board the plane? Which are the most important jobs? 

Ask questions to elicit key vocabulary that is useful for this 

lesson. Ask, What equipment do you need to check on the plane? 

(blankets; safety instruction cards; overhead lockers; seatbelt) 

What do passengers need to have and to do on the plane? 

(passport; boarding card; hand luggage; wear seatbelts; stow 

luggage; sit down) 

Welcoming passengers 

EXERCISE 1 and 2 Speaking 

Give students time to read through the sentences. Check any unknown 

words. Then ask students to discuss the questions in pairs. You could 

extend exercise 2 by asking pairs to order their top fi ve most important 

duties, then putting each pair with another pair to discuss their list. 


Check the following key words: colleague (person you work with); cabin 

(part of the plane where passengers sit). 


Give students time to read the situation and question. Ask, What do 

you think Jenny will say? What do you usually say? Play the recording. 

Students listen and then discuss their answers in pairs. Get feedback in 

open class at the end. 

Answers 

She greets three passengers, although the second woman is travelling 

with someone else. 


Give students time to read through the sentences. See if they can 

remember the missing words. Play the recording again. Students listen 

and then discuss their answers in pairs. Get feedback in open class. 

Answers 

1 Good 2 Can 3 how 4 May 


Check the following key words: assured (certain to happen); full (no free 

seats). 


Give students time to read the situation and question. Ask, What do you 

think the problem could be? Play the recording. Students listen and then 


Answers 

The problem is that the passenger asked for a window seat, but has not 

got one. 


Give students time to read through the questions. Play the recording 

again. Students listen and then discuss their answers in pairs. Get 

feedback in open class at the end and discuss the follow-up question. 

Answers 

1 False. There are some empty seats. 

2 17D 

3 because she doesn’t want an aisle seat 

4 at check-in 

5 She will move her as soon as she has checked the passenger list. 

8 

6 She asks the passenger to remain in the aisle seat until she has 

checked the passenger list. 


Ask students to work in pairs to label the boarding pass. Get feedback in 

open class at the end and discuss the follow-up question. 

Answers 

1 airline 2 boarding time 3 fl ight number 4 family name 5 fi rst name 

6 date 7 seat number 8 gate number 


Ask students to work individually to complete the text. Then let them 

check their answers in pairs before getting feedback in open class. 

Answers 

1 check-in 2 hand-baggage 3 boarding pass 4 seat number 

5 Seating arrangements 6 window seats 7 in advance 8 hand-baggage 

9 overhead lockers 

POLITE REQUESTS Language focus 



Which modal verbs are more formal and polite? (Would and could are more 

formal than can.) 


Note the form: Can/Could I + infi nitive without to; Would you + infi nitive 

without to; Would you mind + -ing 

Note the use: Could is slightly more tentative and polite than Can. We 

use Would you rather than Can/Could you when asking a passenger to do 

something because we want to be very tentative and polite. 




Remind students that it is important to use a wide intonation pattern in 

English to sound friendly and polite. Make sure students attempt a rising 

intonation pattern with polite requests. 

➚➘ ➚➘ ➚ 

Good evening. Could I see your boarding pass, please? 


If you have the fl exibility to move furniture in your classroom, a good 

way of organizing this is to divide students into groups of fi ve and tell 

them to arrange their chairs into two rows of two chairs. Everybody 

stands up. One person plays the fl ight attendant and must welcome 

each passenger on board and help them to their seats. Students then 

keep changing roles until everybody has been the fl ight attendant once. 

Monitor, prompt for good intonation, and feedback on good examples of 

language use and errors you heard at the end. 

ROUND UP 

Ask students in pairs to sit back to back so that student A can 

see the board, and student B can’t. Write the words in bold below 

on the board: 

boarding pass window seat overhead locker aisle seat 

immigration form hand baggage seat number 

seating arrangements mobile phone 

Student A says the words in bold. Student B must complete the 

compound by saying the second word, or must say pass. Find out 

which pair can get all the compounds the quickest.

UNIT 



Write the letters of the alphabet in a list on the board and ask 

students to give you a word that describes something on a plane 

for each letter of the alphabet, beginning with A. For example, 

Armrest; Boarding card; Cabin; Door; Exit; etc. Write the words up 

on the board. 

You could turn the above activity into a game. Divide the class 

into two teams. Team A must give a word beginning with A, Team 

B give a word beginning with B, Team A then do C, etc, until you 

reach the end of the alphabet. If a team can’t think of a word 

they say pass. At the end see which team got most words. 

Settling passengers in their seats 


Ask students to match the words to the pictures and then check in pairs. 

In the open class feedback at the end, you could ask students to listen 

to and repeat the words. 


Point out the strong stress in some of the words (shown here in bold): 

arm-rest; head-rest; locker; handset; control; seatbelt 

Answers 

1 head-rest 2 seatbelt 3 arm-rest 4 overhead locker 5 TV handset 

control 6 table 7 safety instruction card 8 call button 9 light button 


Check the following key words: remaining (that are left); a couple (two). 


Give students time to read the situation and questions. Ask, What do you 

think Jenny will do? What do you usually do in this situation? Play the 

recording. Students listen and then discuss their answers in pairs. Get 

feedback in open class and discuss the follow-up question. 

Answers 

1 the passenger list 

2 move the passenger to 15A 

3 help her with her bags 

4 her fi rst name 


Check the following key words: bassinet cot (small bed for a baby on a 

plane); lap (when sitting, your thighs become your lap). 


Give students time to read the situation and question. Play the 

recording. Students listen and then check their answer in pairs. Get 


Answers 

She has an 11-month-old baby with her. 



usually do when you have a small baby on a plane? Play the recording. 


open class and discuss the follow-up question. 

Answers 

1 after take-off 

2 ‘How old is your baby?’; ‘Has she fl own before?’ 

3 a bit nervous, especially about the baby waking up during take-off 

4 on her mother’s lap 

5 with a special baby belt 

SHOWING HOW SOMETHING WORKS Language focus 


read out the phrases and ask students to read and follow. 


Note that you can give instructions in two ways. You can use the 

imperative: First of all, attach the bassinet to the clips. Or, when talking 

directly to people, you can use you: First of all, you attach the bassinet to 

the clips. 


Set up this activity by asking students to look at the pictures and tell 

you which verbs and nouns they need to describe the processes. Elicit 

the following: press, pull, push, lift, lever, button. Put students in pairs 

to take turns to describe each process. Ask some pairs to describe a 

process to the class. 


Check the following key words: delayed (to be late); expecting you 

(knowing you were coming). 


Give students time to read the situation and statements. Play the 



Answers 

1 T 

2 F – he says he was delayed getting to the airport from the city. 

3 F – Sylvie says ‘No problem.’ 

4 T 

5 F – Sylvie says ‘Everyone is on board.’ 


Give students time to read through the sentences. See if they can 

remember the missing words. Play the recording again. Students listen 

and then discuss their answers in pairs. Get feedback in open class at 

the end. 

Answers 

1 see 2 sorry 3 getting 4 airport 5 expecting 6 cross 7 that’s it 

8 secure 

ROUND UP 

Ask students to work in pairs to prepare instructions for how 

something on a plane works. Tell them they can choose to 

describe any process they can think of and don’t have to describe 

the processes in exercise 5. When they are ready, each pair must 

describe their process without saying what it is. The rest of the 

class must guess which process is being described. 

9

UNIT 



Ask students, What safety instructions are given on a plane just 

before take-off? Elicit as many ideas as possible (for example, 

how and when to fasten seatbelts, the location of exits and life 

vests). 

A fun way to elicit this vocabulary is to get a confi dent student 

to the front of the class and ask him/her to mime the actions 

used by fl ight attendants during a safety demonstration. The 

other students have to give the instruction that goes with each 

mime. 

Demonstrating safety procedures and checking 

before take-off 


Read through the captain’s speech bubble. Ask, What do you usually do 

when you hear this announcement? Ask students to work in pairs. Tell 

them to read the paragraphs quickly individually, then to discuss the 

order carefully with their partner. Monitor and prompt as students do 

this. Get feedback in open class at the end. 

Reading notes 

Jumbled readings are diffi cult to do so give students plenty of time 

and help. As you monitor, point out clues such as ordering words (First, 

When, Finally) and repeated vocabulary from one paragraph to another 

(life vest; vest). 

Answers 

A 1 B 4 C 8 D 5 E 9 F 6 G 11 H 12 I 10 J 2 K 7 

L 3 M 13 


Play the recording. Students listen and check their answers. 


Write the following words on the board and ask students to fi nd 

synonyms in the listening script: regular (frequent); attached (fastened); 

fi nd (locate); blow up (infl ate); get to know (familiarize); empty 

(evacuate). 

You may also need to check some more specialized words: straps (thin 

pieces of material that you tie together); cord (thick string); brace (bend 

forward with your hands on your head); buckle (metal part of a belt). 


Ask students to work in pairs to take turns practising reading out the 

text and performing the actions. Monitor and correct mispronunciations 

and poor intonation. 

10 


Reading out aloud well requires good preparation. So, if being able to 

do this task well is important for your students, it is worth getting them 

to prepare it carefully. Write up the following analysis on the board, 

showing strong stress and pausing: 

Ladies and gentlemen // even if you are a frequent traveller // it 

is important // that you listen carefully // to the following safety 

instructions 

Get students to analyze the rest (or part) of the text, marking stress and 

pausing, before reading it out. 


Check the following key words: exit row (line of seats next to the exit 

door); upright (not leaning back). 


Ask students to discuss the pictures in pairs for three or four minutes. 

Then elicit what the people might be saying in open class. 


Give students time to read the task. Play the recording. Students listen 


the end and discuss the follow-up question. 

Answers 

a 5 b 1 c 2 d 6 e 3 f 4 g 7 h 8 


Lead in by asking students to tell you what phrases they could use from 

exercise 5 to do this task. Ask students to work in pairs to take turns 

making fi nal requests. Monitor and prompt. In feedback, praise good 

language use and correct errors. 

ROUND UP 

Revise the lesson by miming safety instructions (for example, 

pointing to the exits, showing how to infl ate a life vest) and 

asking students to say what the instruction is. You could also 

mime passengers doing things wrong (for example, using a 

mobile phone, taking off a seatbelt) and asking students to say 

what the request should be.

UNIT 


2 Case study 

Write, The fi ght for the overheads on the board. Ask students 

what they think this refers to. Ask, Do you think this is a 

problem? What do you do to help? 


Ask students to read the text quickly and fi nd answers to the questions. 

Let students discuss the answers in pairs before discussing in open class. 

Answers 

1 the growing problems of storing hand-baggage in the overhead lockers 

as passengers board the aircraft 

2 Yes. If there is no space for their bags in the overhead lockers or under 

the seat in front of them, their bags will be off-loaded and put in the 

hold. 


Give students time to read through the questions. Then ask them to 

read the second paragraph, fi nd answers and discuss them in pairs. Get 


Answers 

1 people become angry; fl ight attendants are stressed because they can’t 

perform their proper duties 

2 store small items under seats, leave space for others, free the aisles 

3 safety duties: checking equipment and passengers’ behaviour/needs 


Write the following words on the board and ask students to match them 

to synonyms in the text: not relaxed (stressed); large and of an awkward 

shape (bulky); taken off the plane (off-loaded); place where cargo is 

carried (hold); putting away (stowing); moving on the runway (taxiing). 



Give students time to read through the questions and think of responses. 

Ask them to discuss their responses in pairs or small groups. After a few 

minutes, get one student from each pair or group to briefl y summarize 

the main points of their discussion. 


Check the following key adjectives: cheerful (happy and friendly); 

life-threatening (may result in death); diverted (when the destination is 

changed during the fl ight); tip (piece of advice). 



the recording. Students listen, take notes, then discuss their answers in 



Answers 

1 The business traveller who is serious, passengers going on holiday, 

maybe fl ying for the fi rst time, who are excited and nervous; 

passengers travelling to visit family and friends. All have different 

feelings. 

2 He was an elderly man with an obviously serious medical condition. 

Shon had to decide whether to allow him to travel or not. He wanted 

to travel. He was taken off the plane by paramedics, and a possibly 

serious medical incident was avoided. 

3 to do the job with the most professional and highest standard possible 

Her tips: drink plenty of water, carry a little pot of moisturizer for 

the lips. For women, take a new bottle of nail varnish; for men, 

moisturizer 

CD1 Track 2.9 

1 Did you enjoy welcoming passengers? 

S: One of the most exciting parts of the day for me at the beginning of a fl ight 

was the welcoming of passengers because it was the opportunity you’d have 

to give a really cheerful welcome to all the different types of passengers 

that you’d be carrying on that fl ight and the preparation and the team work 

between the crew in preparation of greeting passengers was always very 

exciting and when people come on board there are all sorts of emotions 

coming with that. You’ve got the business traveller who has, you know, a 

frequency of travel and therefore tends to adopt a more serious approach. 

You’ve got the holiday maker who is very excited or a little nervous – you 

know, particularly with infrequent travellers – people who’ve never fl own 

before and then you’ve got those people who are travelling to visit family 

and friends and they’ve got different emotions again and I always saw the 

welcoming part as my opportunity to really welcome people on board in a 

positive and cheerful way showing them that, you know, they were in my safe 

hands really, or our safe hands as a team, collectively. 

2 Did you ever experience any problems when welcoming passengers? 

S: There was one time I remember. We were leaving Toronto and an elderly 

gentleman boarded the aircraft and as he boarded I said, you know, welcome 

on board sir, and he barely could speak, he could barely walk, although he 

had no assistance and he wasn’t with anybody. I showed him to his seat, but 

it became very apparent very quickly, like within 30 seconds to a minute, that 

this gentleman wasn’t very well and I wasn’t happy to take him all the way to 

London. He looked as though he was seriously ill. I called the paramedics who 

boarded the aircraft and unfortunately they had to take this gentleman off 

which I know he didn’t thank me for because he just wanted to get home, but 

it turned out that he had a serious medical condition that would have been 

life-threatening and it would have meant the fl ight being diverted at great 

cost to the airline and at great time and expense to the rest of the passengers 

on board. As the senior crew member on board that day, which I was, it was 

between myself and the paramedics and I was guided really on that decision by 

the paramedics – I mean I had really laid out, you know, the point that I was 

unhappy to take the passenger if he was sick and it was when the paramedics 

looked at him without any investigation they recognized that he was seriously 

ill, so the decision was between the two of us, but ultimately the paramedics. 

3 Do you have any tips for a new fl ight attendant? 

S: Anyone who is starting out their career as a fl ight attendant – I would say do 

your job with the most professional and high standard that you could possibly 

have. And a little tip, I think, for anyone fl ying in the air is to keep drinking 

plenty of water because obviously the aircraft can be fairly dehydrating and 

always, always carry a little pot of moisturizer for your lips because your 

lips tend to suffer quite a lot up in the air, so that would be my tip. Oh, 

and defi nitely for the ladies, a new bottle of nail varnish. For the male fl ight 

attendants, again moisturizer is key and drink lots of water because unless 

you have experience of continually working in a dehydrated cabin, you have 

no idea what it’s like to dehydrate which you really will do, so lots of water, 

drink lots of that and keep a little pack of moisturizer with you. 


Ask students to work in pairs or small groups to discuss the solutions. 

Get feedback in open class and encourage students with interesting ideas 

to share with the class. 

ROUND UP 




What's on a boarding pass / Objects in a cabin / Safety instructions 

Ask students to work in pairs to write all the words and phrases they 

know, or to search the unit to fi nd words and phrases to write. 

11

UNIT 

3 After take-off and into the fl ight 


Ask students, Do you usually work on long-haul or short-haul 

fl ights? What jobs do you have to do during the fl ight? In what 

ways is your job different on a long-haul rather than a short-haul 

fl ight? 

Ask students to work in pairs to write a list of all the duringfl 

ight jobs they have to do. Write the class list on the board. 

Making the first announcements 


Give students time to read through the questions. Check any unknown 

words. Ask students to discuss the questions in pairs. Get feedback in 

open class. 


Check the following key words: cooperation (helpfulness); refreshments 

(drinks); change (money in the form of coins); purchases (things you 

buy). 


You may wish students to listen to the announcements with books closed 

fi rst. Set a gist task: What do the announcements have in common? Play 

the recording. Ask students to listen to and read the announcements. 

Then put them in pairs to write in the missing words. Get feedback in 

open class. 

Answers 

1 board 

2 unless 

3 quickly 

4 Sorry 

5 free 

6 block 

7 ready 

8 through 

9 orders 

10 exact 


Ask students to discuss the questions in pairs. Play the recording again if 

necessary. Get feedback in open class at the end. 

Answers 

1 2 and 3 

2 1 – there are no hot snacks. 

3 3 


Ask students to discuss the questions in pairs. Get feedback in open class 

at the end. 

FORMAL AND INFORMAL LANGUAGE Language focus 



Which words make the formal phrases formal? Brainstorm other 

expressions with the students. 

12 


Note that ‘You can ...’ and ‘Kindly ...’ placed before the infi nitive or 

imperative make the phrases more polite and formal. Also, the use of the 

passive (has been switched off) is formal. 

EXERCISE 5 and 6 Pronunciation 

Ask students to work in pairs to mark the stress. You could do the fi rst 

sentence in open class to get students started. Play the recording. Ask 

students to check their answers. Then play the recording again so that 

they can listen and repeat. 


Words that carry meaning are stressed. These tend to be nouns, verbs and 

adjectives. Make sure students are underlining these key words. 

Answers 

1 It’s great to have you on board. 

2 Please don’t leave your seats unless you have to. 

3 We’d like to serve you drinks and snacks as quickly as possible. 

4 The seatbelt sign is off. 

5 Feel free to walk around. 

6 Thanks for your cooperation. 

7 We shall be coming through the cabin with refreshments in a few 

moments. 

8 We’d really appreciate it if you had the exact change for your 

purchases. 


Ask students to work in groups of three to practise reading out the texts. 

Once each student has read one text out, ask them to try to make the 

same announcement without reading. Monitor, prompt students to stress 

key words correctly, and feedback on good examples of language use and 

errors you heard at the end. 

ROUND UP 

Here are two ways of organizing and extending exercise 7. 

1 Before they read out the announcements, ask students to 

mark key stresses and pauses on one of the announcements in 

the same way as was suggested in the Pronunciation notes for 

the third lesson in unit 2 (see page 10 of this Trainer’s Guide). 

2 After reading out an announcement, ask students to choose 

ten key stressed words from the announcement they read and 

write them in order on a piece of paper. Students then close 

their books and try to reproduce the announcement from the 

key words.

UNIT 



Ask students to look at the two photographs and say what they 

can see. Elicit as much vocabulary as you can to describe the 

photos (cabin; seats; passengers; overhead lockers; TV screens). 

Ask, What’s the difference between the two photos? 

Getting started 


Ask students to discuss the questions in pairs or small groups. Then get 

feedback in open class. 


Check the following key phrases: sorry to bother you (sorry to interrupt 

you); a pretty tight connection (very little time between connections). 



think passengers might need or want in this situation? Play the recording. 



Answers 

1 go to the toilet 

2 a glass of water 

3 heat her baby’s bottle 

4 how long it takes to get from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 


Give students time to read the sentences and write in any words they 

think they know. Play the recording. Students listen, fi ll in the gaps and 

then check their answers in pairs. Get feedback in open class at the end. 

Answers 

1 sit 2 problem 3 course 4 help 5 with 6 soon 7 do 8 worry 9 get 


Ask students to discuss this question in small groups. Then discuss in 

open class and encourage students to express their personal views. 

DEALING WITH PASSENGER NEEDS Language focus 




Note the use of I’ll to make a promise. 


Play the recording. Students listen and repeat. 


Note the rising intonation used to make offers and requests sound 

friendly and polite. 

➚ 

Can I help you? 

➚ 

Can you wait a moment? 


Ask students to work in pairs. Ask each pair to decide who is A, and who 

is B, and to prepare what they are going to say before acting out the role 

play. Monitor, prompt students to use rising intonation correctly, and 

feedback on good examples of language use and errors you heard at the 

end. You could ask a couple of pairs to act out a dialogue in open class 

at the end. 


Elicit ideas from the class, and open up a class discussion. Ask follow-up 

questions: What’s the most unusual request a passenger has made? What 

requests do you fi nd most annoying or diffi cult to deal with? 

ROUND UP 

Extend the role play in exercise 6 into a fun open class activity. 

Tell each student to imagine they are a passenger and to write 

down a need, a want and a query. Ask two students to stand up 

and walk round the class. They are the fl ight attendants and must 

respond to all the demands the rest of the class (the passengers) 

make of them. Tell the passengers to demand attention. This can 

be fun if the fl ight attendants have to deal with lots of queries. 

After a couple of minutes ask the fl ight attendants to exchange 

roles with two different students. 

13

UNIT 



Ask students, Have you ever had to deal with a diffi cult 

passenger? Who was the most diffi cult passenger you have had 

and why? How do you deal with diffi cult passengers? 

Helping to settle passengers 


Ask students to discuss the questions in pairs or small groups. Get 

feedback in open class at the end and elicit other adjectives students 

could use to describe diffi cult passengers. 

Speaking notes 

A good way of managing an extended discussion like this is to make one 

student in each group of four the ‘chairperson’ – it is their job to ask the 

questions, nominate people to speak in their group, and to summarize 

what was said in the feedback. 


Check the following key words: my pleasure (you’re welcome); poor (not 

good); blanket (thick woollen cover). 


Play the recording. Students listen and note the problems. Let them 

check answers in pairs before discussing in open class. 

Answers 2 

Passenger 1: She can’t get her bag down from the overhead locker. 

Passenger 2: He needs a blanket. 

Passenger 3: He wants his meal. 

Passenger 4: She wants to change seats. 

Play the recording so that students can write the questions in exercise 3. 

Check in pairs. In feedback, write up the questions on the board so 

students can check they have formed them correctly. 

Answers 3 

Passenger 1: Are you feeling better now? 

Passenger 2: Can I help you, sir? 

Passenger 3: Did you call, sir? 

Passenger 4: Is everything all right? 


Play the recording. Ask students, Which words did they stress? and How 

did they sound caring? Then ask students to listen to each phrase again 

and to repeat it. Ask students to work in pairs to take turns practising 

reading out the sentences in a caring way. 


Note the strong stress (in bold) and the intonation pattern: 

➚ 

Are you feeling better now? 

➚ 

Did you call, sir? 

➚ 

I do apologize. 


Check the following key words: starving (very hungry); shortly (very 

soon); remind (help me remember). 


Give students time to read the situation and questions. Ask if they can 

predict the topic of any of the conversations from the questions. Play the 

14 


feedback in open class at the end and ask, Have you ever been in any of 

these situations? What did you do? 

Answers 

Conversation 1 

1 how long the fl ight will be 2 11 hours 


3 at 10.45/in 45 minutes’ time 4 They are hungry. 


5 headphones for her girls/children 6 channel 2 


7 a blanket 8 to remind herself about the blanket 

‘COMFORT’ EXPRESSIONS Language focus 



Which words make these phrases ‘comforting’? 


Can I ... and Let me + infi nitive sound ‘comforting’ because they ask 

permission to take responsibility and do something for someone. 

I’ll, similarly, offers or promises to do something for someone. 


Play the recording. Ask students to listen and repeat each phrase. You 

could ask them to take turns reading out the phrases in pairs. 


It is important to use a wide intonation pattern in English when trying 

to be comforting and friendly. 

➚ ➘ ➚ 

Can I get you anything else? 


Check elderly (old – over 75 years old) and special needs (having a 

physical or mental disability). 


Discuss the fi rst of these situations in open class to get students started. 

Then ask them to work in pairs to discuss the rest of the situations. 

Monitor, prompt, and note good ideas which you could get students to 

share in open class in the feedback that follows. At the end, ask, Which of 

these situations are most common? Which are most diffi cult to deal with? 


Ask students to improvise role plays based on the situations and using 

the words. Monitor, prompt, and note errors and good examples of 

language use which you can comment on in the feedback. 

ROUND UP 

Extra activity 1 

You could extend exercise 8 by asking each pair to prepare a 

short written dialogue involving a fl ight attendant and one of the 

people in exercise 7. When ready, ask a few pairs to act out their 

dialogue in open class. 

Extra activity 2 

Revise the vocabulary in exercise 1 by asking students to tell you 

opposites (shy/confi dent; nervous/relaxed; unpleasant/nice or 

friendly; noisy/quiet; arrogant/modest; demanding/easy-going) 

or give you words with similar meanings (reserved; anxious; 

unfriendly; loud; rude; diffi cult; horrible).

UNIT 

3 Case study 


Write, Flying with children on the board. Ask students what they 

think this refers to. Ask, What are the good things and bad things 

about having kids on board? What do you do to deal with any 

problems? 


Give students time to read the questions and check harsh (too strict or 

severe). Then ask students to read the text and make notes. Let students 

discuss the answers in pairs before discussing in open class. 

Answers 

1 children kicking the backs of seats; families talking loudly and passing 

things backwards and forwards; babies crying loudly 

2 Some passengers want parents to control children more, some suggest 

‘family-only’ zones on board. Cabin crew can ask parents to control 

children. Airlines sometimes provide cards / colouring books on the 

aircraft, and tables / chairs / toys at the departure gate. 


Write the following defi nitions on the board and ask students to match 

them to synonyms in the text: say they are at fault (blame); prepared 

to allow bad behaviour (permissive); small with little space to move 

(cramped); crazy (insane); out of control (unruly). 








Check the following key phrases: fl urry of activity (a lot of things 

happening at once); dealing with queries (answering questions); speed 

is of the essence (it is important to be quick); interact with passengers 

(meet and talk to passengers); nudging and poking (getting someone’s 

attention by putting your elbow or fi nger into their side); giggling 

(laughing like a small child). 



the recording. Students listen, take notes, then discuss their answers in 



Answers 

1 getting the drinks trolleys ready for the fi rst service; dealing with 

passengers’ queries 

2 The biggest difference is the need for speed on short-haul fl ights. 

Shon preferred long-haul because of the exotic destinations and, 

above all, the chance to interact with passengers. 

3 During take-off an elderly man held on to her foot without realizing it. 

(Students’ own ideas for what else she could have done) 

CD1 Track 3.9 

1 After take-off what were your main duties? 

S: Once the aircraft is in the air and the seatbelt signs go off, fl ight attendants 

are usually very, very busy. We are jumping out of our seats and getting the 

drinks trolleys ready for that fi rst service and there’s quite a fl urry of activity 

there because obviously the galleys are quite small and trolleys are coming out 

and the preparation will take about 10 to 15 minutes. In between all of that 

you're dealing with passenger queries. You know, somebody will be ringing the 

bell because as soon as they're airborne and the seatbelt signs go off, they 

want their questions answered, or they might feel cold or they might have a 

connection problem that they want to know about, so just after that take-off 

it can be quite intense for the cabin crew, setting the trolleys up and dealing 

with general passenger queries. 

2 Is there a big difference after take-off on short-haul and long-haul fl ights? 

S: The only difference between short-haul and long-haul fl ights in terms of the 

duties that fl ight attendants have is the speed I think because on a short-haul 

fl ight speed is of the essence so fl ight attendants have to work very, very fast 

to get those drinks trolleys or whichever service they are starting with, out, 

whereas on a long-haul fl ight there is not that time that you are racing against, 

so I think speed is probably the only thing that I can think of that is a real 

difference between short-haul and long-haul. I preferred the long-haul fl ights. 

It was always exciting anyway to know that you were going to Kuala Lumpur or 

Tokyo, but on top of that the long-haul fl ights for me were great because you 

had a chance to really interact with the passengers on board. You weren’t just 

having them for 30 minutes, which was the short-haul option and throughout 

a 12- or 14-hour fl ight you could really get to know some people well and do a 

really great job looking after them, so I particularly like the long-haul. 

3 Did you have any strange experiences after take-off? 

S: I remember once when I fi rst started fl ying, I was only about 20 and I was 

on a charter fl ight out of Birmingham and as we rumbled down the runway a 

lovely old couple sat in front of me at the door exit and as we took off this 

man sitting opposite me suddenly grabbed my foot and he held onto it for 

at least fi ve minutes and I couldn’t move and I was nudging and poking my 

colleague and we were giggling quietly and only when the aircraft levelled out 

I was able to shake my foot at the passenger who was still holding it and he 

looked, he was so embarrassed, and he hadn’t realized how frightened he was 

and had grabbed my foot, and I couldn’t move, I couldn’t get up to help set 

up the drinks trolleys or do anything because he was holding onto my foot. 

So, that was quite funny and I’ve never forgotten it. 


Ask students to work in pairs or groups of three/four to discuss the 

questions. Get feedback in open class and encourage students with 

interesting ideas to share with the class. 

ROUND UP 

Revise useful phrases from the unit by writing the following 

situations on the board and asking students to recall phrases 

that could be used in each situation: 

Tell passengers ... 

... you’re busy. 

... they can stand up. 

... you’re coming with the food trolley. 

... you’re there to help. 

... there is nothing to worry about. 



write. 

15

UNIT 

4 Food and drinks 


Ask students, What was on the menu on the last fl ight you made? 

What snacks and beverages do you mostly serve or sell? What type 

of food do you normally serve on short-haul/long-haul fl ights? 

How does the food and drink differ in economy class from business 

class? 

Ask students to work in pairs to write a list of all the food that is 

currently on their airline’s menu card. Write the class list of food 

and drinks on the board. 

Giving a choice 



words. Then ask students to work in pairs to search the menu and fi nd 

the answers. They don’t need to read every word and should be able to 

do this task in less than a minute. Get feedback in open class. 

Answers 

1 breakfast and lunch 2 three 3 three 4 probably in the morning, as 

breakfast is served fi rst 


Ask students to work in pairs to fi nd food words and put them in the 

correct category. Get feedback in open class. 

Answers 

Fruit: orange, strawberries 

Meat/Fish: seafood, chicken, beef tenderloin 

Vegetables/Herbs: seasonal salad, tomatoes, caulifl ower, onions, beans, 

peas, chives, potatoes, red pepper, green salad 

Dairy food: yoghurt, butter, Parmesan (cheese), cheese sauce, cream 


Check the following more diffi cult words: assorted (various); crunchy 

(hard to bite into – like carrots); topped (placed on top); shredded 

(broken into tiny pieces); accompanied (with); tender (soft to bite into); 

marinated (left in oil and herbs to get fl avour); garnished (placed there 

to look attractive rather than be eaten); chopped (cut into small pieces 

with a sharp knife); roasted (cooked in an oven). 

Chives are long, thin, green herbs which taste a bit like onion. 

A mousse is a soft pudding. 


Ask students to label the objects, then check with a partner. In the 

feedback, ask students to repeat the words after your model to practise 

their pronunciation. 

Answers 

1 dessert 2 fi rst course/salad 3 cup 4 fork 5 knife 6 roll 

7 main course 8 spoon 9 butter 10 napkin/serviette 


Check the following words: option (choice); spicy (hot, strong fl avour); 

mild (not strong); prior (before); spare (extra). 


Give students time to read the situation and the questions. Check spicy 

(has a strong hot fl avour). Play the recording. Ask students to listen and 

write T or F. Then ask them to check their answers in pairs. Get feedback 

in open class. 

16 

Answers 

1 T 

2 F – he chooses red wine. 

3 F – it is South African. 

4 True, but this is not on the menu. 

5 T – she asks ‘Is the chicken very spicy?’ and she says ‘Good.’ when told 

it is ‘just mildly spiced’. 

6 F – she asks for a special children’s meal. 

7 T – she hasn’t pre-ordered a children’s menu. 

8 F – she chooses still water for herself and 7up for her children. 

9 T 

OFFERING A CHOICE Language focus 



Which phrase is more informal? 


Note that would like is followed by the infi nitive with to. What can I get 

you? is more informal. What will you have? is also possible here. 


Play the recording. Ask students to listen and notice the intonation 

pattern. Then play the recording again so that students can listen and 

repeat. 


The intonation rises on both choices. 

➚ ➚ 

Coffee or tea? 

The intonation rises because the speaker is being tentative (he/she 

doesn’t know what the answer will be) and polite (it’s a formal situation). 


Ask students to work in pairs to take turns asking and ordering. 

Alternatively, ask pairs to prepare and write a dialogue and then practise 

it together. Monitor, prompt students to use intonation correctly, and 

feedback on good examples of language use and errors you heard at 

the end. 

ROUND UP 

Here are two ways of organizing and extending exercise 6. 

1 Write the following adjectives on the board: quiet; confi dent; 

rude; nervous; confused; troublesome; angry. When students 

are ready to act out the asking and ordering task, tell the 

‘passenger’ to choose one of the ‘personalities’ on the board 

and play their part as that character. Students could act out 

different dialogues as different characters. 

2 Ask students to work in pairs to design their own menu card. 

Mix pairs and ask them to act out dialogues using the new 

home-made menu cards.

UNIT 



Write the letters of the alphabet in a list down the left side of 

the board: A, B, C, D, etc. Ask students to give you the names 

of drinks beginning with the letters: apple juice/ale; bourbon/ 

brandy; cointreau/coke; etc. 

You could divide the class into two teams. Team A must think of 

a drink beginning with the letter a, team B think of one with b. 

Team A then have to think of one with c, etc. Each team gets a 

point if they know a drink. At the end, see which team has most 

points. 

Serving drinks 


Give students time to look through the list. Then play the recording. 

Students listen and repeat. 


Note the strong stress in the English pronunciation of the following 

words: chocolate; cappuccino; lemonade; champagne; tomato; espresso. 


Ask students to work in pairs to put the words in the correct columns. 

Ask fast fi nishers to add extra words, and make a list of extra words in 

feedback. 

Answers 

Wines and beers Spirits Soft drinks Hot drinks 

Sauvignon Blanc 

Merlot 

Bloody Mary 

Martini 

Kronenberg 

port 

Carlsberg 

Bordeaux 

champagne 

Johnny Walker 

cognac 

vodka 

Bacardi rum 

bourbon 

soda 

Perrier 

apple juice 

diet Coke 

lemonade 

bottled still 

water 

tomato juice 

tonic water 

ginger ale 

fruit tea 

hot chocolate 

cappuccino 

Earl Grey tea 

English Breakfast 

tea 

espresso 


Check the following word: local (from the city or country the plane has 

left or is fl ying to). 


Give students time to read the situation and types of drinks. Play the 

recording. Students listen and put the drinks in order. Let them check 

their answers in pairs. Get feedback in open class. 

Answers 

a 7 b 4 c 3 d 1 e 6 f 2 g 9 h 5 i 8 


You may wish to point out the common weak /@/ sound in some of these 

phrases: 

/@/ /@/ 

a cup of tea 

/@/ /@/ 

a gin and tonic 


Give students time to read the questions. Play the recording. Let 

students check their answers in pairs. Get feedback in open class at 

the end. 

Answers 

1 No, she doesn’t. 

2 four 

3 He wants tea, but will have to wait because only cold drinks are 

being served. 

4 two 

5 ‘Here we are. Enjoy.’ 

6 Yes, he says the meal is great. 

7 because the bar is shut 

8 a soft drink 


Give students time to read through the situation and the lists. Play the 

recording. Students listen and repeat. 


Note the intonation pattern in lists, particularly the falling intonation on 

the last word. 

➚ ➚ ➚ ➘ 

Apple, orange, pineapple or tomato. 


Ask students to work in pairs to practise making orders. One student lists 

a choice of wines and beers. The other student responds by saying, for 

example, a glass of sauvignon blanc, please. They then change roles and 

categories. Monitor, prompt students to use intonation correctly, and 

feedback on good examples of language use and errors you heard at the 

end. You could ask a couple of pairs to act out a dialogue in open class 

at the end. 


Give students time to add to the list. Then ask them to discuss the 

problems in pairs or small groups and decide which ones are the worst. 

In feedback, ask, How do you deal with each of these problems? 

ROUND UP 

Ask students, What drinks are most commonly served on your 

airline? Which are the most popular? Which drinks do you like? 

17

UNIT 



Ask students to work in pairs to think of as many duty-free items 

as they can in one minute. Find out which pair thought up the 

most. In feedback, check students' knowledge of prices on their 

fl ights by asking, How much is a bottle of whisky/a bottle of 

perfume/a box of chocolates/etc? 

Duty-free sales 


Give students time to quickly read through the text and see if they can 

guess the missing words. Then play the recording. Students listen and 

fi ll in the gaps. Let them check their answers in pairs before getting 


Answers 

1 begin 2 list 3 pocket 4 using 5 accept 6 win 7 excellent 


Ask students to work in pairs to match the words. In feedback, point 

out aspects of grammar (for example, shortly often comes at the end of 

a sentence) and pronunciation (purchases = /"p3;tS@sIz/) involving these 

words. You could also explain the difference between money (general 

word), currency (used to describe money from different countries) and 

cash (notes and coins). 

Answers 

1 shortly 2 purchases 3 prepare 4 frequent fl yers 5 bargains 

6 designed 


Put students into pairs to categorize the words. Monitor and help. In 

feedback, check any words the students are unsure of, and point out any 

diffi cult pronunciations (USB /ju: es bi:/; mascara /m&"ska;r@/; bracelet 

/"breIsl@t/). Ask students what other words they thought of. 

Answers 

Perfumes and jewellery: a brooch, perfume spray, earrings, eau de 

toilette, a crystal pendant, a bracelet 

Electric and electronic items: a USB key, a travel plug adaptor, 

a travel razor, headphones 

Alcohol and tobacco: whisky, cognac, cigars, vodka, champagne, 

cigarettes 

Cosmetics: face cream, aftershave, lipstick, mascara 

Gifts: a soft toy, chocolates, a watch, a model aircraft, a scarf, a pen 


Check the following words: a bargain (at a good value price); a classic 

(used to describe a book that has been successful for a long time); 

recommend (say which is the best choice). 


Give students time to read the situation and questions. Play the 


feedback in open class at the end and ask, Have you ever been in this 

situation? In what way was it different? 

Answers 

1 perfume 2 $41 3 a scarf 4 by credit card 5 because he wants his 

frequent fl yer points 6 a receipt 

18 

MONEY EXPRESSIONS Language focus 

Give students time to read through the ways of talking about money in 

the box. You could check understanding by writing a couple of sums on 

the board and asking students to say them (for example, 31 + 18 = 49; 

16 x 3 = 48). 


Note that plus and and and makes, comes to and equals have the same 

meaning. 


Play the recording. Ask students to listen and repeat each phrase. You 

could ask them to take turns reading out the phrases in pairs. 


Note the pronunciation of the following: equals /"i;kw@ls/; minus 

/"maIn@s/; receipt /rI"si;t/. 


Do the fi rst of the sums in open class to get students started, then put 

them in pairs to write the other totals. Ask students to practise saying 

the sums. 


Note the different ways we can express sums of money: 

$19.50 = nineteen (dollars) fi fty; nineteen dollars and fi fty cents 

£12.80 = twelve (pounds) eighty; twelve pounds and eighty pence 

Answers 

1 $46.50 2 $8.25 3 €56.75 4 €13.50 5 £22.90 6 $40.59 


Discuss these tasks in open class. Find out how much students know. 

Answers 

Spain: euro China: renminbi Australia: Australian dollar Brazil: real 

Singapore: Singapore dollar Saudi Arabia: Saudi riyal Russia: rouble 

UAE: dirham Nigeria: naira Pakistan: rupee 


Ask students to work in pairs to act out the mini-dialogues. Monitor, 

prompt, and correct involving the pronunciation of sums of money. 

Feedback on good examples of language use and errors at the end. 


Ask students to talk about their personal knowledge and experiences in 

small groups. 

ROUND UP 

Play a competitive game to practise saying sums of money. Write 

fi ve or six items from the list in exercise 3 on the board and ask 

students to give you realistic prices for each. Write the prices 

next to each item. Then ask students to work in pairs and tell 

them you are going to order some duty-free and the fi rst pair to 

shout out the correct price gets a point. Say, for example, I’d like 

two scarves and a bottle of whisky. Award a point to the fi rst pair 

with an answer, then move on to a second order. Make fi ve or six 

orders before praising the pair with most points.

UNIT 

4 Case study 


Write, I think airline food is ... on the board. Ask students to 

work in pairs and give them time to complete the sentence with 

their own thoughts. Then get feedback and discuss in open class. 

You could brainstorm positive and negative words used to 

describe food: 

+ delicious; tasty; fresh; tender; succulent 

– disgusting; tasteless; bland; dreadful 


Give students time to read the questions. Then ask them to read the 

text and make notes. Let students discuss the answers in pairs before 

discussing in open class. 

Answers 

1 Passengers = 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10 

Crew = 4,5,6 

Either = 7 

2 positive: 1, 3 and 10; negative: 2, 3, 7, 8 and 9 (3 contains both 

negative and positive comments); no opinion: 4, 5 and 6 

3 positive: fi ne, well prepared, look great, taste even better 

negative: the worst, bland, not very hot, badly presented, tasteless, 

dreadful, not fi t for human consumption 








Check the following key phrases: engage with passengers (talk to them); 

gauge passengers (work out what sort of person they are); get to know 

passengers (meet and become friends with them); appease passengers 

(say things to calm them down when they are angry). 



the recording. Students listen, take notes and then discuss their answers 

in pairs. Get feedback in open class at the end. 


Answers 

1 because she had the chance to engage with the passengers and get to 

know them 

2 during the pre-fl ight briefi ng; the number of meals and the nature of 

any special meals needed 

3 The woman’s children were given food from First and Business class. 

CD1 Track 4.9 

1 Did you enjoy this part of the fl ight? 

S: I enjoyed all parts of the in-fl ight service but the nicest part was probably 

doing the meals and the drinks because that was the chance you had to 

engage with the passengers for the fi rst time after take-off and you’d come 

through the cabin and you could really hold some good conversations with 

passengers and fi nd out, you know, how they were feeling, and you know, how 

excited, or, or if they wanted to be left alone and you could really gauge that 

quite well during that fi rst part of the meals or drinks service, and you could 

get to know people a little as well. You know, you’d get to know that little 

old lady who was very nervous about fl ying to Australia for the fi rst time and 

you’d also get to, you know, speak to a wide range of people for, you know, a 

duration, which was, which was good. During the food and drinks service quite 

often, particularly on international fl ights you’d have a lot of people on board 

who wouldn’t be able to speak the language, but there was never any problem 

with the food and drink. People all over the world seem to know what a coke 

is or whether they are having beef or chicken, so food and drink was never an 

issue with foreign language, which was always useful. 

2 How much do cabin crew know about the meals in advance? 

S: During the pre-fl ight briefi ng that all airlines carry out, the crew get to know 

about the meals in advance. We would know how many passengers we have on 

board – we would know any special meal requirements that are needed and any 

dietary problems and we would know of any special requests that a passenger 

may have given prior to their fl ight, so we have all that information and by 

the time we get on board we check the catering to make sure those passenger 

requirements are actually on board. 

3 Do you remember one special incident during the meals service? 

S: During the meals service it can be horrifi c because although I’ve said that 

it’s a really great time to engage with customers, it’s also quite a frenetic 

time because passengers are also worried to know whether the meal they've 

requested is on board. One particular occasion I remember was a lady 

travelling from London to Hong Kong and she had three children and had 

requested three special children’s meals. Unfortunately, my stewardess had 

actually given the three children meals to the row in front of her, who just 

happened to have three children in the row in front, so of course the fi rst I 

heard of it was when the call bell rang and this very irate lady was so cross – I 

mean she was shouting and screaming at the stewardess at how stupid the 

stewardess had been and why should these other people get her children’s 

meals that she had requested. It was a diffi cult situation but I managed to 

calm her down by listening to her and sorting out the children with food from 

Business class and First class which was very fortunate because this particular 

fl ight we had a lot of children and a lot of children’s meals and there weren’t 

any spare, so the only way I was able to appease this lady was to go and make 

up a dinner from the First class menu and fortunately managed to do that. But 

yes, it was an occasion I remember well. 



feedback in open class and encourage students with interesting ideas 

to share with the class. 

ROUND UP 


words and phrases connected with food and drinks under the 


Breakfast / Drinks / Fruit and vegetables / Food adjectives / 

Duty-free goods 



write. 

19

UNIT 


5 Minor passenger problems 

Write the following adjectives on the board: cold; hungry; thirsty; 

noisy; nervous; worried; rude; troublesome; sick; angry. Tell 

students that all these adjectives can describe passengers during 

a fl ight. Ask if they can think of any other adjectives to describe 

passengers. Then ask, What problems do each of these passenger 

types have? What do they say? How do you respond? 

Note that these adjectives come up in exercise 4, so you could do 

this activity as a lead in to the listening later in the lesson. 

Identifying passenger problems 


Ask students to work in pairs or small groups to make a list of problems. 

Get brief class feedback and build up a list on the board. Ask, Which are 

the most common problems? How do you deal with them? 


Check the following key words: plugged in (connected to the electricity 

supply); volume button (controls how loud a machine is). 


Give students time to read through the questions fi rst. Ask if they can 

guess the problems from the questions. Play the recording. Let students 


Answers 

1 get the sound to work on his headphones 

2 no 

3 Yes. He alters the volume. 

4 A fi lm (movie) – The English Patient. 

5 Yes. He selects the fi lm for her. 

FINDING OUT THE PROBLEM Language focus 



Brainstorm any other similar expressions from students. (For example, 

Do you need any help? Do you have a problem? Do you need a hand?) 


Note that What is ...? abbreviates to What’s in spoken English. Matter 

means problem. 


Play the recording. Ask students to listen and repeat. You can help 

show the intonation pattern with a hand movement: hold your right 

hand in front of you, horizontally, palm down, then move it up to show 

rising intonation, or down to show falling intonation. A visual gesture 

is a surprisingly useful aid to students attempting to learn intonation 

patterns. 

20 


Note that the intonation pattern in questions is only a tendency – some 

varieties of English tend to go up on both yes/no questions and open 

questions. A rising intonation suggests hesitance and uncertainty as to 

what the answer will be. 


Check the following key words: transit (going from one fl ight to another); 

snack (light, cold food); high temperature (hot because you are ill); 

paracetamol (medicine for pain such as headache). 


Give students time to read through the situations fi rst. (You could do 

the lead in idea above if you didn’t do it at the start of the lesson.) Play 

the recording. Let students check their answers in pairs before getting 


Answers 

1 i 2 e 3 d 4 a 


Check students understand all the words. Ask students to discuss the 

questions in pairs or small groups. You could get students to order the 

roles in order of importance. Get feedback in open class. 

Answers 

1 information offi cer 2 waiter(ress) 3 nanny 4 nurse 



feedback in open class. Ask, Which roles best describe your job? Which are 

the most diffi cult roles? What was the most unusual role you ever had to 

play? 

ROUND UP 

Ask students to remember useful expressions that they have 

learnt from the course so far and match them to the roles 

discussed in exercise 5. For example, under waiter (What would 

you like, sir?), under information offi cer (You can move around 

the cabin now), under friend (Don’t worry. It’ll be all right).

UNIT 



Revise the previous lesson by asking students to tell you what 

minor problems were discussed. Revise useful vocabulary for 

exercise 1 by asking students to look at the four photographs on 

page 38 and work with a partner to label as many objects as they 

can and to think of useful verbs (eg, seatbelt; buckle; fasten; 

blanket; get; pass; stow; handset; press; card; fi ll in; menu; order). 

Dealing with problems 


Ask students to work in pairs or small groups to come up with ideas 

about what the fl ight attendants are saying. Then get feedback in open 

class. 


Check the following key words: upright (not leaning back); fasten 

(connect the two parts of a seatbelt). 


Give students time to read the questions. Ask, What do you think the 

fl ight attendant will say in each situation? Play the recording. Students 

listen and then discuss their answers in pairs. Get feedback in open class 

at the end. 

Answers 

1 He offers to check on their arrival time. 

2 a sandwich 

3 a blanket 

4 no 

5 She offers to try to fi nd a doctor or nurse. 



think they know. Ask, What part of speech are the missing words? 

(infi nitives of verbs). Play the recording. Students listen, fi ll in the gaps 

and then check in pairs. Get feedback in open class at the end. 

Answers 

1 get back 2 get 3 meantime 4 see 5 ask 

OFFERING TO HELP (1) Language focus 




I’ll uses the abbreviated form of the modal verb will and is followed by 

the base infi nitive. It is used to make offers, promises and even threats. 

Although called the future simple form, it is effectively used to make 

offers both now and/or in the future. 

Many learners revert to the present simple to make offers (I get you a 

blanket). Make sure your students are aware that they should use and 

pronounce ’ll. 

Note the use of get, a word which has many meanings in English and 

here is used to mean bring or fi nd. It’s used informally in spoken English. 




I’ll /aIl/ is diffi cult to pronounce. Students should start the sound with 

lips apart in a circle on ‘a’, close the lips a little through ‘i’, then fi nish 

the sound by touching the top palate just behind the teeth with their 

tongue to make ‘l’. 


Read through the problems with the class and check students understand 

all the words. Then have a conversation in open class to get students 

started and show them how the prompts work: You say a problem, then 

you elicit a query from the class, then you explain, etc. Ask students to 

work in pairs. Tell each pair to decide who is the passenger, and who is 

the fl ight attendant, and to prepare what they are going to say before 

acting out their fi rst role play. Then ask them to change roles and act 

out a different situation. Monitor, prompt students to use I’ll correctly, 

and feedback on good examples of language use and errors you heard. 

You could ask a couple of pairs to act out a dialogue in open class at 

the end. 

ROUND UP 

Ask students to work in pairs to choose one of the photographs 

on page 38 and prepare a dialogue to go with the photo. When 

they are ready, ask a few pairs to act out their dialogue in open 

class. The rest of the class must guess which photograph they are 

basing their dialogue on. 

21

UNIT 



Write a few situations on the board: There are no sandwiches 

left; You bump into a passenger in the aisle; You spill coffee on a 

passenger; A passenger’s handset doesn’t work; You can’t accept 

a passenger’s credit card. Ask students, Would you apologize in 

these situations? Which situation is most serious or embarrassing? 

What would you say in each situation? 

Saying sorry 



feedback in open class at the end and elicit interesting personal 

experiences. 

Speaking notes 

A good way of managing an extended discussion like this is to make one 

student in each group of four the ‘chairperson’ – it is their job to ask the 

questions, nominate people to speak in their group, and to summarize 

what was said in the feedback. 


Check the following key words: what a pity (how disappointing); same 

old story (this always happens); run out (not have any more). 


Give students time to read the situation, then play the recording. 

Students listen and note the problems. Let them check answers in pairs 

before discussing in open class. 

Answers 

peppermint tea, tomato juice, cheese sandwiches 


Give students time to read the questions and write any answers they 

already know. Then play the recording again. Students listen and note 

the answers. Let them check answers in pairs before getting feedback in 

open class. 

Answers 

1 Passenger 3: ‘I don’t believe it – it’s the same old story. You always 

seem to run out.’ 

2 Passenger 3: ‘They’ve been very popular today.’ 

3 four 

4 Seven, if you include ‘I’m afraid we’ve only got apple juice and orange 

juice today.’ 


Give students time to complete any gaps they can, then play the 

recording extract. Let students check answers in pairs before getting 


Answers 

1 get 2 sandwiches 3 run 4 popular 5 chicken 6 same 

7 seem 8 apologize 9 way 10 about 

22 

APOLOGIZING Language focus 



Which phrases are most apologetic? (I do apologize; I can only apologize) 


In spoken English, when the auxiliary verb is used and expressed in full 

it is done so for emphasis: I am sorry; I do apologize. 


Ask students to read the sentences and note the strongly stressed words 

in bold. Play the recording. Ask students, Which words did they stress? 

and How did they use intonation to sound apologetic? Then ask students 

to listen to each phrase again and to repeat it. 

Ask students to work in pairs to take turns practising reading out the 

sentences in an apologetic way. 


English is a stress-timed language which has a much wider intonation 

pattern and much stronger stresses than many other languages, so 

students may fi nd it odd to master such an exaggerated way of speaking 

(to their ears). 

To sound very apologetic in English, start the intonation pattern high 

and exaggerate the pattern. 

Note the strong stress (in bold) and the intonation pattern: 

I do apologize. 


Read through the problems with the class and check they understand 

all the words. Then have a conversation in open class to get students 

started and show them how the prompts work: You say a problem, then 

you elicit an apology from the class, then you refuse it, etc. Ask students 

to work in pairs. Tell each pair to decide who is the passenger, and who 

the fl ight attendant, and to prepare what they are going to say before 

acting out their fi rst role play. Then ask them to change roles and act out 

a different situation. Monitor, prompt students to use a wide intonation 

pattern correctly, and feedback on good examples of language use and 

errors you heard. You could ask a couple of pairs to act out a dialogue in 


ROUND UP 

Write, My most embarrassing moment on the board. If you can 

think of a good example, describe a situation in your career 

when something went wrong, you felt embarrassed, and you 

had to apologize. Then ask the class if they can think of any 

embarrassing situations they can share. If students are reluctant 

to speak, ask them to work in pairs to share and then ask pairs 

to tell the class about what they discussed.

UNIT 

5 Case study 


Write, Pickpocket strikes on fl ight from Tokyo to Paris on the 

board. Point out that a pickpocket is a thief who steals personal 

belongings without the victim noticing. Ask students what they 

think this headline is about. Ask, Have you ever experienced a 

crime on a fl ight? What happened? 


Give students time to read the questions, and check any unknown words. 

Then ask students to read the text and make notes. Let students discuss 

their answers in pairs before discussing in open class. 

Answers 

1 Thousands of pounds in cash was stolen from passengers as they slept 

on the overnight fl ight from Tokyo to Paris. 

2 at least six passengers, in Business class 

3 No. The airline did not comment on this particular incident, but said 

that in general passengers’ belongings in the cabin are their own 

responsibility 



them to synonyms in the text: see or notice (spot); amounts (sums); say 

who it is (identify); disappeared (vanished). You could also ask students 

to fi nd words connected with money in the text: pounds, worth, cash, 

wallets, sums, currencies, prices, pay. 








Check the following key words: nerve-wracking (making you feel nervous); 

courteous (very polite); intense (strongly felt); acknowledge (recognize). 






Answers 

1 Usually most airlines provide a week or possibly two weeks of customer 

service training and one week, or half, of that training is centred on 

handling passenger complaints. 

2 the seating and the choice of meals 

3 show that you understand the passenger’s point of view, and deal with 

their problem 

CD1 Track 5.9 

1 In general, are passengers diffi cult to please? 

S: You know, fl ying is always very tense and nerve-wracking for passengers and 

crew alike, and on the whole most passengers are easy to please, providing 

you give them what they want, when they want it, in a polite and courteous 

way, most passengers are happy. So I would say in general they're not diffi cult 

to please. There’s just a minority that may have problems and they can be the 

diffi cult part of a fl ight attendant’s job. Goodness, if fl ight attendants didn’t 

have the appropriate training to handle in-fl ight situations, particularly with 

customer complaints and customer problems, I think there'd be a lot more 

unhappy customers. So the training is quite intense. There’s usually, most 

airlines will usually provide at least a week or possibly two weeks of customer 

service training whereby one week of that, or half of that training is centred 

on handling passenger complaints so they have good training to deal with 

common situations. 

2 What’s the most common minor complaint? 

S: You know, the most common complaint we have on board as fl ight attendants 

is the seating. A lot of people can’t pre-book their seat and they either want 

a window seat or they want an aisle seat or they want to be near the front or 

they want to be near their friends who they’ve been separated from because 

their friend was able to book their seat, etcetera, so the commonest problem 

is seating. And I think the second most common problem you’ll experience as 

a fl ight attendant is the meals, because when there are meals on board we can 

only carry, you know, a choice of two, maximum three, and we always seem to 

run out of the choice that passengers want the most of that day, so those are 

the two most common complaints. 

3 Is the passenger always right? 

S: I think the passenger is always right. If they have a problem, or if they 

think they have a problem, or they think something’s wrong, I think it’s 

important that the fl ight crew acknowledge that, and show the customer or 

the passenger that they understand the problem and that they're going to deal 

with it, so, in many ways I do believe that the passenger is always right. In 

technical terms they are always right, but of course we know in reality that, 

you know, they may not be right, but I do feel that it’s important that fl ight 

crew can see that if the passenger thinks there’s a problem then we must 

accept that and deal with the problem so that the passenger feels comfortable 

and happy that their problem has been acknowledged and is being dealt with. 



feedback in open class and encourage students with interesting ideas to 

share with the class. 

ROUND UP 

Revise useful words and phrases from the unit by telling students 

you are going to read out a list of prompts and they must write a 

word or phrase for each. Then read out the following: 

Write down ... 

A way of apologizing 

A type of criminal 

A passenger problem 

A role that fl ight attendants play 

A way of asking if passengers have a problem 

A way of offering to get something 

Let students discuss their answers in pairs before getting 


23

UNIT 

6 Is there a doctor on board? 


Ask students, What procedures do you follow to avoid accidents on 

planes? Use mime to elicit the vocabulary of accidents. It is easy 

to mime the following: trip up; bang your head; cut yourself; fall 

down/over; spill hot coffee; twist your ankle/knee. 

Dealing with an on-board accident 



words. Then ask students to discuss the questions in pairs. Get feedback 

in open class. 


Check the following key words: suspended (stopped for a short time); 

unconscious (when you are in a condition like sleep after hitting your 

head); injury (physical damage); nasty (not nice). 


Ask students to look at the picture, and ask, What do you think the 

accident in the listening might be? Give students time to read the 

situation and questions. Play the recording. Students listen and then 


Answers 

1 a female passenger in row 20 

2 a head wound 

3 During the turbulence a laptop fell out of the overhead locker onto her 

head. 

4 to take his seat and strap in securely 

5 to get the fi rst aid kit immediately 


Give students time to read through the questions. Ask if they can 

predict the next part of the listening. Play the recording. Students listen 


the end. 

Answers 

1 No one. She is alone. 

2 a bit dizzy 

3 a glass of water 

4 a small cut 

5 clean up the wound and put a dressing over it 

6 hold a compress against her forehead; get into her seat and strap in 


Ask students to work in pairs to complete the sentences. Check answers 

in feedback by reading out the sentences with the missing words in. 

You could ask students to listen and repeat. Check the meaning of the 

missing words. 

Answers 

1 hurt; bleeding 2 fell 3 feeling 4 bang 5 dressing 

6 dizzy 7 hold 

24 


Point out the pronunciation of the following vocabulary items: 

hurt /h3;t/; bleeding /"bli;di•/; dizzy /"dIzi:/ 

CHECK ➞ CALL ➞ CARE Language focus 




Note that, in an emergency, the imperative form (Get ...) is used to tell 

people what to do and Can you ...? is used to ask people to do things. 

We use going to + infi nitive to talk about intentions and plans which the 

speaker has already decided to do. 


Ask students to look at the questions in pairs and decide which are open 

questions with falling intonation and which are yes/no questions with 

rising intonation. Play the recording. Ask students to listen and repeat. 


Ask students to work in pairs to label the diagram. In feedback, point 

out the stress and pronunciation of these words and ask students to 

repeat them after your model. 

Answers 

1 automatic external defi brillator (AED) 

2 cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) mask 

3 aspirin 

4 antiseptic wipes 

5 gloves 

6 bandages? 

7 syringes 

8 oxygen 

9 stethoscope 

10 dressings 


Note the stress in these words: stethoscope; syringes; bandages; 

oxygen; antiseptic. 

Note: CPR /%si; pi; "a;(r)/; AED /eI i; di;/ 

Follow up by asking students for which medical emergencies they would 

use each piece of equipment in the picture. 

ROUND UP 

You could extend exercise 5 into a speaking activity. Ask pairs 

to choose a medical emergency (for example, a fall in the cabin; 

somebody faints), then write a dialogue using the phrases in the 

language focus and/or exercise 5. Ask some pairs to act out their 

dialogue in open class.

UNIT 



Write the following words on the board: faint; collapse; throw 

up; have a heart attack; feel dizzy; feel airsick; have an anxiety 

attack. Check the meaning of the words and then ask students 

which of these medical incidents they have experienced. 

Dealing with a serious medical incident 


Check the difference between a medical incident (something that happens 

– an asthma attack, for example) and an accident (a happening that 

involves receiving injuries – a fall or a crash, for example). Ask students 

to work in pairs or small groups to discuss the questions. Get feedback in 

open class and encourage students to share their personal experiences. 


Check the following key words: medical kit (pack with emergency medical 

supplies in); weak (not strong); shallow (not deep). 


Give students time to read the situation and the questions. Ask, What 

can you guess about the situation from the questions? Play the recording. 



Answers 

1 T 2 F – he is travelling with his wife. 3 F – she wants to put him on 

the fl oor. 4 F 5 T 6 F – they need a doctor. 7 T – he is a diabetic 

and has injections. 8 F – he is 63. He’s been tired recently. 9 T 10 F 

Cultural note 

Delhi is a city in northern India. Colombo is a city in Sri Lanka. 



think they know. Ask, What part of speech are the missing words? Play 

the recording again if students are unclear about any answers. Students 

listen, complete the remaining gaps and then check in pairs. Get 

feedback in open class at the end. You could ask students to practise 

saying the phrases in pairs. 

Answers 

1 hear 2 heart 3 breathing 4 get 5 mask 6 care 7 administered 

8 pulse 





Note the pronunciation of heart /ha:t/ and pulse /pVls/. 

GIVING INSTRUCTIONS TO CREW Language focus 




Note the use of the imperative here (Get ..., Tell ..., Make ...). Note the 

structure Get (someone) to do (something) which means tell or persuade 

someone to do something. 

Grab means take quickly with urgency. 




The imperative form is strongly stressed in each sentence. 


Check the following key word: diagnosis (doctor’s decision about what is 

wrong with a patient). 


Give students time to read the situation and the questions. Ask, What 

do you think will happen in this situation? Play the recording. Students 


at the end. 

Answers 

1 that the man is going into cardiac arrest 2 yes 3 that they divert 

the plane to the nearest hospital without delay 4 The captain will 

contact ATC and arrange to land at the nearest airport. 


Check the following key words: diversion (change of route and 

destination); cooperation (helpfulness). 


Give students time to read the announcement and guess the missing 

words. Play the recording. Students listen and then discuss their answers 


Answers 

1 important 2 divert 3 nearest 4 prepare 5 anticipate 6 remain 

7 inconvenience 8 updated 


Play the recording. Students listen and repeat. Then ask students to work 

in pairs to practise reading the announcement. 


Before asking students to practise reading the announcement, you could 

get them to analyze it for pausing and stress. They should mark up the 

text as shown below: 

Ladies and gentlemen, // if there is a doctor on board, // please make 

yourself known // to a member of the crew immediately // by pressing 

your call bell. // Thank you. 


Ask students to work in groups of four. Each group must decide who 

will play the ill passenger and his/her friend, who will play the fl ight 

attendant and who the purser. Give students preparation time. The 

passengers must chat and decide what the medical problem is going to 

be and what they could say. The fl ight attendants should, meanwhile, 

look back at language in the unit and think about what they should say 

in a medical emergency. 

When each group is ready, ask them to act out their role play. Then ask 

them to change roles and act out a different situation. Monitor, prompt 

students to use the imperative correctly, and feedback on good examples 

of language use and errors you heard. You could choose a good group to 

act out one of their role plays for the class at the end. 

ROUND UP 

Give students further practice of making emergency announcements 

by asking pairs to analyze the text in exercise 7 for stress, pausing 

and intonation. Once they have marked up the text (as shown in the 

notes above for exercise 8), ask pairs to take turns reading it out. 

25

UNIT 



Ask, What is the procedure for reporting a medical incident on a 

fl ight? Who has to report the incident and who to? Have you ever 

had to report an incident? If so, what was the incident and what 

did you say or write? 

Reporting a medical incident 


Lead in by asking students what they remember about the incident in 

the previous lesson or by asking students to look back at the lesson to 

remind themselves. Ask students to work in pairs to do the role play. Tell 

students to take turns to play the two roles. Monitor and note how well 

students manipulate past forms. 

TALKING ABOUT THE PAST Language focus 



How do we form regular past forms (add –ed to the infi nitive); How do we 

form questions? (see below). 


We form the regular simple past by adding –ed to the infi nitive. You 

could point out the following slight exceptions: 

collapse + d (because it ends with e); stop + p + ed (double the 

consonant when the verb ends consonant, vowel, consonant); 

carry – y + i + ed (change y to i). 

Object questions use the auxiliary verb did: question word (object) + did 

+ subject + infi nitive + ? (What did you do?) 

Subject questions: question word (subject) + past form + ? (What 

happened?) 

You could provide practice of these phrases by asking students to do the 

role play again, but this time the person asking about the incident must 

ask as many questions as they can. 


Ask students to work in pairs to decide which words go in which column. 

Do one or two as a class fi rst to get students started. Play the recording. 

Ask students to listen and check their answers. Play the recording again. 

Ask students to listen and repeat. 

Answers 

/t/: checked, stopped, asked, switched 

/d/: happened, resumed, informed, arrived, closed, remained, 

administered, suffered 

/Id/: reported, fainted, needed, decided, assisted, recommended 


-ed is pronounced /d/ after voiced consonant sounds and vowel sounds 

(which are always voiced). 

-ed is pronounced /t/ after unvoiced consonant sounds. 

-ed is only pronounced /Id/ after /t/ and /d/ (for example, chatted 

/tS&tId/). Beware of and correct students who overuse /Id/. 

Voiced means that the voicebox vibrates slightly as the sound is made, 

so /b/ and /p/, for example, are identical plosive sounds except that 

/b/ is voiced (hence robbed /rQbd/) and /p/ is unvoiced (hence stopped 

/stQpt/). 

26 


Ask students to work in pairs to make sentences. Monitor and correct 

poor pronunciations of –ed. 

LINKING WORDS Language focus 


read out the phrases and ask students to read and follow. Ask, Which 

order do we usually use these phrases? 


At fi rst (= early on), Soon after (= later on) and In the end (= at the end 

of this period of time) place a story in the context of when events took 

place. 

First, Then and Finally are sequencers used to order events. 

Eventually is similar in meaning to In the end but also suggests the end 

of a process in which many things have happened. 


Ask students to work in pairs to look back at the Listening on page 44 

and order the key events. Then tell them to take turns telling the story. 

Monitor, prompt, and listen for good language use and errors involving 

past forms and linkers. 


Ask students to read the text without looking at the list of missing words 

and try to remember or guess which words are missing. Then ask students 

to work in pairs to complete the text with the words in the box. Get 


Answers 

1 happened 2 cardiac 3 condition 4 comfortable 5 pulse 6 defi brillator 

7 fi rst 8 administer 9 recommended 10 aware 11 services 12 until 

13 transferred 14 resumed 


Write the following defi nitions on the board and ask students to 

match them to synonyms in the text: moved from one place to another 

(transferred); give medically (administer); heart attack (cardiac arrest); 

quick (prompt); asked for (requested); not changing (stable). 

ROUND UP 

Activity 1 

Write the following in a list on the board: At fi rst, ...; Soon after 

...; Then ...; After that ...; Eventually, ...; Finally, ... 

Ask students to think of an accident or medical incident that 

they have experienced on a fl ight. Tell them it could be major or 

very minor. Ask them to think of how to describe the experience 

using fi ve of the linkers. 

When students are prepared to speak, replace the linkers on 

the board with the following: Really?; Oh no ...; Then what 

happened?; Did you? I don’t believe it?; How nerve-wracking! 

Pair students with someone new, and tell them to take it in turns 

to talk about their incident. The listener must use the words on 

the board to ask about and encourage the story-telling. Monitor 

and note good language use and errors. 

Activity 2 

Ask students to write a report of an incident they have 

experienced using past forms and linkers. This could be for 

homework.

UNIT 


6 Case study 

Ask students if they have ever had to ask if there was a doctor 

on board. If so, ask, What was the problem and what happened? 

What was the attitude of the doctor? 


Give students time to read the questions, and check any unknown words. 

Then ask students to read the text and make notes. Let students discuss 

the answers in pairs before discussing in open class. 

Answers 

1 A doctor responded to the call from the cabin crew and ended up 

treating several patients. 

2 three – none of them serious medical emergencies 

3 fetching equipment the doctor needed; administering oxygen 



them to synonyms in the text: natural, unthinking feeling about what to 

do (instinct); group of people watching something (audience); go down 

(sink); feeling very anxious (panicky). 








Check the following key words: second to none (nothing is better); 

sweating profusely (sweating – losing water from the body through the 

skin – a lot); revive (bring back to consciousness); claustrophobic (feeling 

afraid because you are in a small or crowded space). 






Play the recording again. Students listen and complete the text. Let 

them check in pairs before open class feedback. 

Answers 4 

1 fractures 2 hyperventilation 3 heart attacks 4 strokes 5 giving birth 

6 nose bleed 

Ask students to work in pairs to retell the story. Remind them to use 

linking words and past forms. At the end, ask a few pairs to tell parts of 

the story in open class. Discuss the follow-up question 3 in open class. 

Answers 3 

Two main reasons: fi rst, fl ight attendants’ medical training is excellent 

and they are taught how to deal with a wide range of situations that can 

occur on board; second, there is always someone on board (doctor/nurse 

or experienced crew member) who will know how to deal with medical 

problems. 

CD2 Track 6.10 

1 Were you trained to be a good nurse? 

S: One of the good things about the fl ight attendant training is the fi rst aid training 

that people receive. It’s absolutely second to none and it’s so specifi c and 

intensive training, so you’re looking at, at least fi ve days of fi rst aid training and 

we cover all sorts of things from fractures to hyperventilation, to heart attacks 

and strokes and we are taught how to deal with such a wide range of situations 

that can occur on board, you know, from giving birth on board to, you know, 

a nose bleed so there are many different aspects of nursing training that fl ight 

attendants receive and again at the pre-fl ight briefi ng that skills and knowledge 

that people have prior to their fl ight attendant role, if they’ve been a nurse in 

a previous job, then that all comes together at the pre-briefi ng so as well as 

having, you know, excellent fi rst aid training, should a situation arise on board, 

you’ve usually got one or two people who can actually use previous experience in 

addition to that. 

2 Do you have a special medical crisis that you remember in particular? 

S: Once I was working down in the back galley on a jumbo jet, and this 

gentleman came and sat on one of the crew seats, and at fi rst I looked at 

him and he looked a little bit grey, and I was a little bit worried because 

he, he asked for a glass of water and I noticed he was sweating profusely on 

his head, and I gave him the glass of water and carried on getting the food 

trolleys ready for the cabin crew, and as I manoeuvred a trolley around him 

he just fell on the fl oor in front of me, and I recognized immediately that he 

was going into heart attack, partly because of his grey colour, I mean he was 

so grey and the sweating, you know, it should have really alerted me to this a 

minute or two earlier but I was busy just getting the food trolleys and I just 

thought he needed a glass of water. However, when he collapsed I managed 

to get him into the recovery position and immediately went on to the interphone 

to call one of the stewardesses who had been a nurse in her previous 

job, and she came down within seconds and we managed to get the passenger 

onto the fl oor with an oxygen bottle and she revived him. She was incredible 

– she was very calm and, you know, with the oxygen and just monitoring him, 

he – the colour returning to his face was quite spectacular. He went from grey 

to rosy red within fi ve minutes and we moved him into Business class after 

that so that we could monitor him more carefully and just checked that he 

wasn’t getting, you know, sort of claustrophobic. We don’t know what brought 

his heart attack on, but we were pleased that it was only a minor heart attack 

and he did make a full recovery. 

3 What’s your advice about medical incidents on board to fl ight attendants in their 

fi nal phase of training? 

S: I would say to fl ight attendants in training, not to worry too much about 

in-fl ight incidents that may occur because the training that they receive as 

fl ight attendants is very, very good and on top of that the ability and the skill 

within the fl ight attendant team is usually pretty high, so there will usually 

always be somebody on board working with you who has been in a nursing 

profession prior to the role, so advice to you as a fl ight attendant just starting 

out your career is to be calm, remember your training and always remember to 

utilize the skills and ability of your fellow crew around you. 





ROUND UP 




Types of accident / Items in a medical kit / Diagnosis and treatment 

Ask students to work in pairs to write all the words and phrases they 

know, or to search the unit to fi nd words and phrases to write. 

27

UNIT 

7 In-fl ight emergencies 


Ask students to work in pairs to brainstorm a list of in-fl ight 

emergencies. Give students time, then elicit and write up a list 

on the board as a class. Students could compare their list to 

the list in exercise 2. Ask, What should you say and do in these 

emergencies? Have you ever experienced any of these emergencies? 

What did you say and do? 

Taking charge in an emergency 


Ask students to work in pairs or small groups to discuss the roles. In 

feedback, ask, Which roles are most important? 


Give students time to read through the serious on-board events, and 

check any unknown words. Then ask students to work in pairs to compare 

the events, and to discuss the questions at the end of the activity. Get 

extended feedback in open class. Discuss any disagreements about the 

seriousness of the emergencies. Then either discuss the questions in 

exercise 3 in open class or let students talk in pairs fi rst before a class 

discussion. 


Check the following words: grab (take quickly and urgently); adjusting 

(moving it until it’s in the right position); fi tted (fi xed in position). 


Give students time to read the announcement and guess the missing 

words. Play the recording. Ask students to listen and fi ll in the gaps. Let 

them check their answers in pairs. Get feedback in open class at the end. 

Answers 

1 emergency 2 emergency 3 Stay 4 fastened 5 calm 6 follow 

7 down 8 down 9 over 10 mouth 11 normally 12 over 13 mouth 

14 pull 15 band 16 before 

28 

GIVING INSTRUCTIONS Language focus 



Which part of speech do we use to make emergency instructions? (the 

imperative). 


Note that we use the imperative to give instructions in an emergency 

because it is short, sharp and decisive. In English, the imperative form is 

identical to the bare infi nitive form. 




Note the strong stress on the verb in the imperative form: 

Stay in your seats. 

Remain calm. 


Give students time to read through the situations and phrases, and check 

any diffi cult words. Ask students to work in pairs to match the phrases to 

the situations. Monitor and help. In feedback, ask if students can think 

of any other phrases to use in each situation. 

ROUND UP 

You could extend exercise 6 into a role play activity. Ask students 

to work in pairs and choose one of the situations in exercise 6. 

Then ask them to prepare a dialogue based on the situation and 

to practise it. You could ask a few pairs to act out their dialogue 

in open class at the end.

UNIT 



Write the following prompts on the board: Make sure ...; 

Check ...; Help ...; Tell .... Ask students, In an emergency 

situation, what is your role? What do you have to do? (Tell 

students to use the prompts to answer this question.) Ask, 

What personal qualities are important in an emergency situation? 

You could elicit some of the following: calm; clear; decisive; 

organized; supportive. 

Preparing for an emergency evacuation 


Give students time to read the text. Ask, What has happened? How do the 

passengers feel? Check shut down (switch off) and severe (really bad or 

strong). Ask students to discuss the questions in pairs. Get feedback in 

open class. 


Give students time to read the text and guess the missing words. Check 

evacuate (empty of passengers). Play the recording. Students listen 


the end. 

Answers 

1 speaking 2 technical 3 20 (twenty) 4 normal 5 slides 6 prepare 

7 carefully 


Give students time to read the suggestions and check any unknown 

words. Ask students to discuss the suggestions in pairs. Get feedback in 



Lead in by asking students what procedures they would expect to hear 

announced before an emergency landing. 

Give students time to read through the text and guess the missing words. 

Play the recording. Students listen and fi ll in the gaps. Let students 


Answers 

1 leaving 2 evacuation 3 exactly 4 keep 5 going 6 shows 7 bracing 

8 sides 9 marked 10 pointed 11 locate 12 additional 13 belongings 

14 behind 15 remove 



them to words in the text: keep thinking about (bear in mind); to go 

carefully (make your way to); tear (pull apart paper or cloth). 

Note: bear /be@/ and tear /te@/ 

INSTRUCTIONS NOT TO DO SOMETHING Language focus 




We form negative instructions by placing Do not or Don’t before the 

imperative form of the verb. Using Do not rather than Don’t emphasizes 

the fact that this is an instruction not to do something. It makes the 

instruction stronger and more of a warning. 


Ask students to work in groups of three to practise reading out the 

announcement. You could support the students in doing this task by 

getting them to analyze their section of the announcement fi rst, marking 

it up for strong stresses, pausing and intonation (see pronunciation 

notes below). Remind students that their voice should be calm, 

reassuring but decisive when they speak. 


Note the stresses, pausing and intonation in this opening section of the 

announcement. 

➚ ➘ ➚ 

Ladies and gentlemen, // as the captain has just told you, 

➘ 

// we shall be landing in twenty minutes. // 

➚ 

Can you wait a moment? 

ROUND UP 

Write the following verbs on the board: give; remain; collect; 

fasten; point out; evacuate; return; follow; adopt. Ask students to 

work in pairs to fi nd words and phrases in the texts in the lesson 

that collocate with the verbs. Get feedback in open class at the 

end. This activity revises the lesson and does some work with 

collocations. 

29

UNIT 



Write the following words on the board: incredible; miracle; 

survivors; escape; heroes; rescue. Ask students what the words 

mean and what connects the words. Ask if they know of any 

real-life stories involving an aircraft that could be told using 

these words. If any students do know a story, ask him/her to tell 

the class. 

Reporting an evacuation 

EXERCISE 1 and 2 Reading 

Read the introduction, then discuss the picture and the headline in open 

class. Find out how much students already know about the story. 

Answer 

an aircraft fl oating on water; people standing or sitting on the wings and 

on the evacuation slides 


Ask students to discuss the questions in small groups. Get feedback and 

discuss in open class. 


Give students time to read through the questions. Then ask them to read 

the text and fi nd the answers. Let them check their answers in pairs 

before getting feedback in open class. 

Answers 

1 a bird-strike 2 on water in the River Hudson 3 none 4 the captain 

5 good training 


Ask students to work in pairs to search the text and match words to 

defi nitions. Get feedback in open class at the end. 

Answers 

1 massive 2 a strike 3 to survive 4 to ditch 5 fl oating 6 slightly 

7 submerged 8 injuries 9 fi rst-class 10 superbly 

TALKING ABOUT THE PAST Language focus 



What form do we use to report instructions? (see notes below). 


The form used here is: tell someone (not) to do something 

Note the changes from imperative to reported instruction: 

Prepare to ... He told them to prepare to ... 

Don’t worry. He told them not to worry. 

You could provide practice of forming reported instructions by asking 

students to change the sentences in the Language focus boxes in the two 

previous lessons into reported instructions. 

30 


Play the recording. Ask students to listen and note the weak 

pronunciation of to. Play the recording again. Ask students to listen and 

repeat. 


English is a stress-timed language. We give key words that carry meaning 

a lot of emphasis and reduce unimportant words to a sound so reduced 

that it’s hard to hear. Not the following – stresses are in bold: 

The purser told the passengers not to worry. 


A nice way to manage this activity is to divide the class into pairs of 

reporters and pairs of passengers. The reporter pairs must work together 

to prepare questions. The passenger pairs must look back at the text and 

think about how to report the instructions. When students are ready, mix 

pairs so that a reporter is with a passenger. Ask students to act out the 

role play. When they have fi nished, repeat the process, asking students 

to take on the other role in both preparation and role play. Monitor, 

prompt, and listen for good language use and errors involving question 

forming and reported instructions. 

ROUND UP 

Ask students to work in small groups to make up a story about 

another miraculous escape. Write the following questions on the 

board to guide the students in their preparation: 

What happened? 

Where and when did it happen? 

What fl ight was it and who was on board? 

What did the captain do? 

What did the fl ight attendants do? 

What happened in the end? 

When students are ready, divide them into new groups of four. 

Tell the students to take turns to ask about and tell their stories.

UNIT 

7 Case study 


Write the headline to the article in mixed-up form on the board. 

For example: criticized to Crew’s incident response take-off 

Ask students to work in pairs to put the words in the correct 

order to make a headline (Crew's incident response to take-off 

criticized). Then ask, What do you think the article will be about? 


Give students time to read through the events and the question. Then 

ask them to read the text and put the events in order. Let students check 

their answers in pairs before getting feedback in open class. 

Answers 

1 a 3 b 1 c 7 d 5 e 8 f 6 g 2 h 4 

2 The cabin crew moved passengers to other seats and even tried to 

release oxygen masks with their ID cards. 


Check the following words from the text, all of which are connected with 

one thing coming into physical contact with another: hit, strike, bang, 

bump. Use mime to show meaning. 








Check the following phrases: aborting the take-off (suddenly stopping 

it); swerving from side to side (moving uncontrollably); white knuckles 

(when the joints in the middle of your fi ngers go white because of fear); 

jerking from side to side (moving uncontrollably and in a bumpy, violent 

way); dart out of a seat (jump and run quickly from a seat); impeding 

passengers (blocking them and slowing them down). 


Give students time to read the situation and the questions. Play the 

recording. Students listen, take notes, then discuss their answers in 



Give students time to read through the tasks. Then play the recording. 

Ask students to make notes in preparation for speaking and fi ll in the 

missing words in the third task. Let students check their answers in pairs 


Answers 

1 V1: There was instrument failure just before V1, which is the point at 

which an aircraft is committed to leaving the ground. 

braking: This caused the aircraft to swerve violently. 

senior crew member: He was so scared that she could see the veins in 

his neck. 

people in the Business class section: She could see the fear in their 

faces and the knuckles on their hands were white as they held on tightly 

to their arm-rests. 

communication from the fl ight deck: There wasn’t any (presumably the 

crew were too busy trying to control the aircraft). 

2 announcements from the captain: The captain’s communication 

skills were excellent. 

the tyres on the aircraft: All the tyres except three had burst. 

the fuel tanks: They were in the wings, so the captain didn’t want the 

exit doors over the wings to be opened, although two passengers did 

open them; fortunately they did not explode. 

passengers behaving selfi shly: One woman with two children jumped 

out before them, leaving them at the top of the evacuation slide; one 

man was determined to take his briefcase, blocking the escape of other 

passengers; two passengers opened the wing doors, despite instructions 

not to. 

3 1 cope 2 stress 3 competent 4 calm 5 drills 6 approach 

CD2 Track 7.6 

1 What was the most serious emergency you experienced? 

S: One of the most horrible situations I experienced was a fl ight leaving Lusaka, 

Africa, and we’d as a crew had a wonderful ten days in Africa doing safari 

and all excited about going home, you know, to show our friends all the 

wonderful photos, and on take-off at V1 just before V1 which is the point the 

aircraft must leave the ground, there was an instrument failure and the pilot 

was fl ying the aircraft and needed to have a speed of 140 knots but at V1 at 

this point where the aircraft must take off, the captain’s speed went down 

to 80 knots so they took an unprecedented decision in aborting the take-off 

at V1 and this was unplanned, no crew knew about what was happening. 

All we knew that the aircraft suddenly came into brake form and the aircraft 

started swerving violently from left to right and I can remember as a junior 

stewardess at the time looking at my senior crew member and he had veins 

popping out of his neck. He was obviously, you know, really, really scared. My 

crew were looking quite terrifi ed. As I looked down the cabin I could see into 

the Business class section and I saw fear on people’s faces and their knuckles 

were white and stretched as they were grabbing their arm-rests and all this 

time the aircraft was shaking violently from left to right; had completely lost 

control of, you know, going straight. At the time I felt the nose had lifted 

up because I was sitting at the doors one left which is at the front of the 

aircraft and I remember feeling the sensation of going up and then feeling 

the bang as the nose wheels came back down, but I’ve since been told that 

that couldn’t possibly happen so I would imagine that it was just braking at 

that crucial point, which was quite severe braking and that in itself created 

lots of secondary problems for us as fl ight crew. We had no communication 

from the fl ight deck during that initial, sort of, 20/30 seconds. It was a very 

frightening experience particularly because as an experienced fl ight crew you 

gauge when you are going to be taking off and I knew we’d been going along 

that runway for at least 25/30 seconds and gaining speed all the time, so 

I knew take-off was imminent and the fact that we were suddenly swerving 

and literally going violently from left to right with the wing tips, you know, 

virtually touching the ground, was very, very scary and no communication 

from the fl ight crew. So that Lusaka experience was one of the most serious 

emergency situations I’ve encountered through my fl ying career. 

2 Did you ever have to evacuate passengers? 

S: That emergency called for an immediate evacuation. The captain did come 

on to the announcement at that point and apologized to the passengers 

that we had had such an aborted take-off and he quickly explained that his 

instruments had failed and he had decided to abort the take-off, but there 

was no worries, no problems. We would sit and we were going to taxi back to 

the airport. But in fact what had happened through that violent braking, all 

the tyres on the aircraft had burst, bar three, so this meant that the captain 

had no steering facility which was why the aircraft was jerking so severely 

from left to right. So he brought the aircraft to a stop and made another 

announcement. He was excellent in communicating with the passengers and 

the crew immediately. I mean, you know, I commend his communication skills 

on that occasion, but the evacuation had to take place because we couldn’t 

move the aircraft and basically the heat from that braking was getting to a 

danger point near the fuel tanks, so evacuation via the slides had to take 

place. Evacuating the passengers – it was the fi rst time I’d ever had to do 

this in my fl ying career and your brain goes into automatic. All the training 

that you’ve taken in and absorbed through every year you are fl ying suddenly 

comes into play and once the aircraft had stopped and the captain had told 

us we were to evacuate, as I said, your training comes into the front and 

31

UNIT 

7 Case study 

you just go into automatic so the doors were opened and the slides infl ated, 

but funny things happen when people are scared and panicking, and the 

passengers – I had been watching them as we were trying to open the doors 

and, you know, make an exit for them, just seeing those knuckles – I’ll never 

forget those people sitting poised, waiting to dart out of their seat, and one 

man, as we began shouting instructions – unfasten your seatbelt, leave your 

seat, come this way – this man, he ran to the door and the slide hadn’t fully 

infl ated – it was just unfolding and he jumped out before anyone could stop 

him. Fortunately, he didn’t hurt himself because by the time he was going 

down the slide, the bottom of the slide had actually infl ated and he was able 

to evacuate. I think he just had a few damaged, scratched knees. Also, some 

people become really, really selfi sh. There was a lady, she had two children, 

and she actually went down the slide leaving her children at the top, and 

I was stunned at that – you know, to think that she would go down before 

her children. So people behave very, very strangely in, in a scary situation 

like that. They just see an opening – they see the smoke coming round the 

fuselage of the aircraft and they just want to get out and yes, it surprised all 

of us. 

When we evacuated the aircraft, people again – some people don’t realize 

the enormity or the emergency of the situation and as people were leaving 

the cabin, particularly from Economy, one gentleman, I hear, was trying to 

take his briefcase from the overhead lockers and this was impeding other 

people’s access or stopping other people from getting forward to the doors 

that were open for them to evacuate. So that caused a big problem and the 

crew were trying to shout instructions to the passenger who took absolutely 

no notice. He was determined, he was having his briefcase and that was 

it. Also the captain had instructed that the over wing doors must not be 

opened because the fuel tanks were there, but two passengers took it into 

their own authority to push past the stewardesses and actually physically 

open those doors. Obviously, during the debrief, with the report, this was a 

serious situation. Fortunately the fuel tanks didn’t explode, but those few 

passengers that evacuated over the wing were, very, very, you know, in danger 

of, you know, losing their life, I think, and they had totally ignored the 

stewardesses and again unfortunately the stewardesses at the over wing were 

very inexperienced and didn’t have the authority to stop those passengers and 

I think possibly a bit of that plus their inexperience and their own personal 

need to get out maybe have forced them to allow the passengers to open the 

doors. Fortunately this story was a happy ending because the evacuation went 

well. We evacuated all the passengers within eighteen seconds and we had a 

hundred and ninety passengers on board so that was pretty good, and there 

was no danger to anyone and the aircraft although very sick, didn’t cause any 

problems to any of us, and there were no injuries for passengers either. 

3 What special qualities as a fl ight attendant do you need in emergencies? 

S: I think all fl ight attendants have to be able to cope with pressure and stress. 

They have to be able to demonstrate a calmness, and they have to also be 

competent and feel confi dent about what they’re doing and what their role 

is and what their responsibility as a safety offi cer on board is, and if you 

can be calm, if you can absorb your training and know your drills as to what 

to do in any given situation, particularly emergency, then the training will 

automatically take over and your calm approach plus your training will help 

you deal with the situation in the best way possible. 





ROUND UP 

Revise vocabulary from the unit by asking students to write down 

as many phrases as they can under the following heading: 

Instructions in an emergency situation 



write. 

32

UNIT 


8 Complaints and disruptive passengers 

Ask, What sort of things do passengers complain about? Elicit a 

list to the board (you could compare it to the list in exercise 1). 

Ask, What’s the most unusual complaint you have ever had? Who 

was the most disruptive passenger you ever met? 

Responding to passenger complaints 


Ask students to work in pairs or small groups to discuss the list of things 

to complain about. In feedback, elicit ideas of what people might say 

when complaining about each situation. 


Check the following word: patient (prepared to wait calmly). 


Ask students to work in pairs to discuss what they would say in each 

situation. Get feedback in open class and elicit ideas. Play the recording. 

Ask students to listen and see if the fl ight attendants used the same 

expressions as they chose. Then ask students to fi ll in the gaps. Let 

students check in pairs and play the recording again if necessary. Get 


Answers 

1 apologize; busy; get 

2 good; really; away 

3 dear; patient; special 


Study the analysis of what the fl ight attendant says as a class, then ask 

students to work in pairs to analyze the other expressions in the same 

way. Get feedback in open class and discuss the follow-up questions. 

Answers 

2 Sympathize: Oh dear, that’s not good. 

Apologize: I’m really sorry. 

Find a solution: Let me take it away for you and see if I can get you a 

hot cooked meal immediately. 

3 Sympathize: Oh dear. 

Apologize: I’m sorry about this. 

Find a solution: Let me just check the special meals list. 

OFFERING TO HELP (2) Language focus 



What is the form of the sentence? (See below) 


Here, Let me ... means allow or permit me to do something. It is a polite 

and friendly way of making an offer because it is effectively offering to 

do something for someone with that person’s permission. 

Note the form: Let me + infi nitive without to 

33 




Note the strong stress on Let and the stronger stress on the main verb: 

Let me help you. 


Check the following words: disgusting, awful (really bad); frustrating (a 

feeling of anger because you have to wait or are stopped from doing or 

having something). 

EXERCISE 7, 8 and 9 Listening 

Play the recording. Ask students to listen and write down the complaints. 

Let students check their answers in pairs and discuss possible responses. 

Get feedback in open class. 

Answers 

1 dirty toilets 

2 cold cabin 

3 long delay and no information 

4 wrong seats with crying babies nearby 

5 no snacks, dirty plane, awful service 

Play the recording. Students listen and see if the fl ight attendant’s 

response matched their ideas. In feedback, ask students whether they 

thought the response was an appropriate one in each case. 

Ask students to work in pairs to fi ll in the gaps. Play the recording again 

if necessary. You could ask students to practise saying the sentences. 

Answers 

1 letting; apologize 

2 frustrating 

3 about 

4 sorry; enjoyed 

5 so; only 

ROUND UP 

You could give students practice in responding to complaints by 

doing a role play. Ask students to work in groups of three, with a 

student A, B and C in each group. A and B are passengers. C is a 

fl ight attendant. Ask students to look at the list of situations in 

exercise 1. Give A and B a minute to think of complaints to make 

about each situation. Ask C to revise phrases from the page that 

a fl ight attendant might use. 

Ask Cs to stand up. Announce a situation. Say, the food. 

The passengers must start complaining about the food and the 

fl ight attendant must sympathize, apologize and make offers. 

After half a minute, change the situation by saying, the lack 

of information. Students must change their complaints and 

responses. Play out four or fi ve situations.

UNIT 



Write the following words on the board: a drunk; a moaner; 

a fl irt; an attention seeker; a bully; a hooligan. Check that 

students know what the words mean. Then ask them if they 

have experienced any of these types of people on a fl ight. Ask 

students to share their experiences with the class. Ask, Which 

types of passengers annoy you the most? Which cause most 

disruption to other passengers? 

Dealing with complaints about other passengers 


Lead in by asking students to look at the picture and describe what 

they can see. Ask, How common is this type of behaviour? Ask students 

to discuss the questions in pairs or small groups. Get feedback in open 

class. 


Check the following key words: disturbing me (interrupting me); arms 

folded (one arm on top of another); struggling (having problems); keep 

your voices down (be quiet). 


Give students time to read the situation and questions. Play the 



Answers 

1 A group of people near him are making too much noise. 

2 He wants to move. 

3 He suggests speaking to the group fi rst and, if that does not work, 

fi nding another seat for the passenger. 

4 yes, for the moment 



think they know. Play the recording. Students listen, fi ll in the gaps, 

then check in pairs. Get feedback in open class at the end. 

Answers 

1 disturbing 2 refuse 3 understand 4 care 5 word 6 How 


Give students time to read the questions. Then play the recording. Let 

students check their answers in pairs before open class feedback. 

Answers 

1 No, the plane is full. 

2 talk to the noisy passengers 

3 just watch the situation and come and help him if necessary 


Give students time to read the situation and the dialogue and write in 

any words they think they know. Play the recording. Students listen, fi ll 

in the gaps, and then check in pairs. Get feedback in open class at the 

end and discuss the follow-up questions. 

Answers 

1 enjoying 2 Great 3 favour 4 down 5 trying 6 noise 7 hear 

8 another 9 understanding 

IF ... Language focus 




The fi rst conditional is used to express a condition that is seen as 

possible and its result. Here, functionally, it is used to make a promise 

or a deal where the fl ight attendant offers to do something on condition 

that something else happens fi rst. 

Note the form: 

CONDITION RESULT 

If + present will + infi nitive 

If there is still a problem, I won’t leave you on your own. 

There is a comma between the two clauses when the sentence begins 

with If, but not when if goes in the middle of the sentence. 




Note the rising intonation on the fi rst If clause, and falling intonation 

on the result clause that follows. 

I’ll /aIl/ and won’t /w@Unt / often prove tricky for learners to pronounce 

properly. 



Pronunciation and language notes 

To be polite, the intonation pattern of these phrases involves starting 

with high intonation and having rising intonation at the end. 

➚ ➘ ➚ 

Could I ask you a special favour? 

Note the form: Would you mind + ing 


Ask students to work in pairs. Tell each pair to decide who is A and B, 

and to prepare what they are going to say before acting out the role 

play. Monitor, prompt students to use rising intonation correctly, and 

feedback on good examples of language use and errors you heard. You 

could ask a couple of pairs to act out a dialogue in open class at the 

end. 

ROUND UP 

Write, How to deal with disruptive passengers on the board. Ask 

students to work in small groups to come up with a list of fi ve 

top tips for dealing with disruption. Elicit ideas on the board and 

come up with an agreed class list of fi ve good ideas. 

34

UNIT 



Write the following phrases on the board: threw a punch; had a 

food fi ght; lit a cigarette; screamed abuse; grabbed my uniform; 

vandalized the seat; tampered with emergency equipment. 

Ask students what the words mean and whether they have 

experienced any of these situations. Elicit stories of disruptive 

behaviour and other phrases that could be used to describe them. 

Managing disruptive passengers 


Give students time to read the situation and questions. Ask them to 

discuss the questions in pairs. Get feedback in open class. 


Check knock over (push to the ground) and restrain (hold back). 


Give students time to read the situation and the questions. Ask students 

to have a guess as to what the situation might be. Play the recording. 

Students listen, note answers and then check in pairs. Get feedback in 

open class. 

Answers 

1 He’s drunk and shouting. 

2 another drink/vodka 

3 very aggressive, verbally and physically 

4 get his own drink 

5 They restrain him by strapping his wrist to the arm-rest. 

6 speak to the captain 

7 to have the police meet the aircraft 

8 reassure them that the situation is under control 


Ask students to read the report and try to work out what words are 

missing. Let them discuss their answers in pairs. Read out the report 

with the missing words included so that students can hear and check 

their answers. 

Answers 

1 landing 2 aggressive 3 alcohol 4 shout 5 several 6 control 

7 strapped 8 purser 9 calm 10 police 



them to words in the text: shout in a high pitched voice (scream); told 

about the situation (informed); formally taken by the police (arrested). 

35 

EXPRESSING OBLIGATION Language focus 


read out the phrases and ask students to read and follow. Ask, What form 

of the verb do we use after must, have to and need to? (infi nitive). 


Essentially, these verbs expressing obligation are interchangeable and 

can be taught in this context as having the same meaning. However, in 

fact, they do have small variations in meaning. Compare the following: 

In the UK, you have to drive on the left. (expresses an obligation imposed 

from outside – a law or regulation, for example) 

I must phone my mum. She’ll be worried. (expresses a personal obligation 

imposed upon you by yourself) 

I need to water the plants or they’ll die. (expresses a necessity) 

So, if the fl ight attendant says I have to speak to the captain, she means 

that she has no choice as it is the procedure or regulation. But, if she 

says I must speak to the captain, she’s implying that the obligation to do 

this is imposed by herself alone. 

Have to and need to behave like regular verbs (Do you have to ...? Do you 

need to ...?). Must is a modal verb. I’ve got to ... is a more informal way 

of saying I have to. 


Play the recording. Ask students to listen and note the pronunciation of 

have to. Play the recording again. Ask students to listen and repeat. 


Have to is pronounced /'h&vt@/ in continuous speech. 


Play the recording. Ask students to listen and repeat the phrases. You 

could ask students to work in pairs to practise saying the phrases in a 

reassuring tone of voice. 

ROUND UP 

If your students enjoy acting, you could ask them to work 

in groups of three to prepare a role play involving a fl ight 

attendant, a disruptive passenger and an upset passenger. Give 

them fi ve minutes to prepare what they are going to say, then 

ask a few groups to act out their role play in open class. 

Alternatively, ask students to prepare to talk about a real 

situation they experienced. Write the following prompts on the 

board and give students time to prepare before telling their story 

to the class or their group: What happened? What did you do? 

What did you say? What happened in the end?

UNIT 


8 Case study 

Write the following words on the board: abuse; assault; 

intimidation; drunkenness. Ask students to say what the words 

mean and say which are the most serious. Ask, Which of these 

have you experienced? Which are most common? What procedure 

do you follow in these situations? 


Give students time to read the task and the questions, and check any 

unknown words. Then ask students to read the text and make notes. 

Let students discuss their answers in pairs before getting feedback in 

open class. 

Answers 

1 interfering with external doors on the aircraft during fl ight (5) 

physically attacking the cabin crew (4) 

being abusive to cabin crew (3) 

drunken and unruly passengers fi ghting and disturbing other 

passengers (2) 

passenger becoming abusive before take-off (1) 

2 The main cause seems to be too much alcohol. Other causes could be 

psychologically unbalanced passengers, personal stress, over-assertive 

behaviour. 



them to synonyms in the text: opposing and competing (rival); rude and 

out of control (unruly); unfastened (unbuckled); took hold of violently 

(grabbed). 








Check the following words: get more serious (escalate); an annoying 

passenger or problem (a headache/a nuisance); not nice (nasty); annoyed 

(miffed). 

You could also check the expression the fi nal straw that broke the camel’s 

back, which means the last in a series of bad things to happen which 

fi nally made someone lose their temper, get upset or give up. 






Play the recording again. Students listen and complete their answers. 

Let them check their answers in pairs before getting feedback in open 

class. In feedback, encourage individuals to tell the story of Shon’s worst 

experience. 

Answers 

1 Diffi cult passengers are frustrating because some problems can’t be 

solved on board in spite of the goodwill and desire of the cabin crew 

to do their best for them. Shon always worked with the passenger, 

tried to do the best for them and send them away feeling positive. 

2 He complained about everything – the seat, the menu, the towels, 

the wine, the meal, the blanket, even the bad breath of the fl ight 

attendant. But Shon took a positive attitude, never disagreed with 

him and got him extras and lots of small gifts for his wife. She was 

exceedingly kind to him, so much so that when he left the plane, he 

thanked her and said that although he would never fl y with the airline 

again, his attitude towards its fl ight attendant (Shon) had changed 

because she had been so professional. 

3 He said he wanted to move because he was very tall and needed more 

leg-room and he was close to crying babies. Business class was full, 

so Shon found him a row of seats where he could stretch out. But he 

wasn’t happy because what he had really wanted was an upgrade. 


1 Why are diffi cult passengers the fl ight attendant’s biggest headache? 

S: I think diffi cult passengers can be a bit of a headache for fl ight attendants, 

mainly because some of the problems that passengers have can’t be solved 

on board and that gives a fl ight attendant a real headache because if they 

are passionate about their role on board and they want to do the best for the 

customer, that inability to solve the problem can be quite frustrating, so that 

in itself is a headache for the fl ight attendant. Another headache, of course, 

is that, you know, passengers, it can have what we call the halo effect, so 

once a passenger starts complaining, people around them, around that person 

complaining, also start to possibly think negatively and – so the whole thing 

can escalate, so when passengers complain it’s a headache not because the 

passenger’s a nuisance but partly because if it’s not solvable that’s frustrating. 

It certainly was for me. My theory and my ethos when fl ying as a fl ight 

attendant was always to do the best for the customer. I wanted every single 

passenger to get off that fl ight having said they’d had the most amazing 

experience. I never saw a passenger as a headache – annoying problems that 

I couldn’t solve, but I would always try to work with the customer or the 

passenger to see what could be done and usually I was able to leave them 

with a sweet taste in their mouth about the airline even if the problem wasn’t 

solved at the time. 

2 What was the worst experience you had? 

S: I remember one particular incident that was the worst complaint that I 

have ever had to deal with. The man in question was fl ying to Tokyo via our 

airline, and from the minute he boarded the aircraft, took his seat in Business 

class, he had complaints. He didn’t like the seat, he didn’t like the menus. 

He thought the towels that we were handing out were awful. He thought our 

wine choice was disgraceful and so on and this was all before we’d even taken 

off and of course my junior crew were coming to me and telling me about 

this problem that the passenger was having, and each time I was going out 

and addressing the problem and sorting the problem out for the passenger. 

However, things escalated with this passenger in his complaints. He was so 

unhappy with our fl ight that I had to actually call the captain because even 

the meal that we offered him wasn’t good enough. The wine was rubbish and 

then when he tried to put his table away he complained that the seat in front 

of him was invading his space. This was in Business class. There was just no 

way of pleasing this passenger and I recognized that he was just, you know, 

very, very unhappy. I went over to him actually and I sat and listened to him 

and then he threw his last complaint at me and it was just awful. He handed 

me this blanket that he had been given and it smelt really bad. It was really 

damp and there was no excuse, you know, and he had a genuine complaint and 

it was just the fi nal straw for him. He was so unhappy, and although most of 

his complaints were manageable I felt that this was the one that broke the 

camel’s back. On top of that he then complained to me that the stewardesses 

that had been serving him – their breath was so bad it had knocked him 

back twenty paces, and there was nothing I could do and I said to him, you 

know, he said he hated our airline and he wouldn’t normally travel with us, 

so I said, why did you travel today, just out of interest? And he said well my 

wife booked the fl ight and I said I do understand how you feel and I’m really 

sorry you weren’t able to get your fl ight with the airline of your choice and 

36

UNIT 

8 Case study 

I said I’m sorry that you have had so many poor experiences as you see it, 

but I would like you to take something home for your wife so that she feels 

she’s not going to be in trouble for giving you, you know, such a terrible 

experience with us, and I went into First class and I got her all the goodies 

that we give our First class passenger plus a lovely bottle of champagne. I 

got her a little lady’s wash bag which had all the top designer – you know, 

moisturizers and make-up and things like that and I got her a lady’s jump suit 

that the First class passenger has and I gave her a menu, and I fi lled this bag 

with goodies and I said to him, you know, give this to your wife and tell her 

I’m really sorry that you haven’t enjoyed this fl ight but that we’re not as bad 

as you feel you’ve experienced. He just hated our airline and I recognized that 

straight away and do you know, when he got off the fl ight he actually shook 

my hand and he said to me, you know you are absolutely right, he said, I will 

never travel with this airline again he said, but I can tell you now, he said, my 

attitude towards this airline’s fl ight attendant has been changed dramatically, 

he said, because you’ve been so professional, because I, kind of, you know, 

licked him to death with kindness, really. I was understanding and I – he knew 

that I understood that he wouldn’t travel with us again. There was no point in 

me upgrading him to First class because that’s what we would normally do but 

there was no point because all I could do was to look after him to the best of 

my ability within the cabin he was in, but also give him little treats for his 

wife and I think he liked that. 

3 How do you deal with such diffi cult passengers? 

S: When I fi rst started fl ying if you had a nasty passenger you would kill them to 

death. Kill them with – give them upgrades, give them anything to make them 

happy. But during the late eighties and the early nineties passengers became 

so familiar with travel, it was almost like, you know, just getting on a bus that 

they would complain about everything, so suddenly it was the nice people 

that you would treat because so many people were so unpleasant that when 

you have a nice passenger, you actually say to each other as crew, oh that 

gentleman in 16D he’s so lovely. 

We look after people who complain, but some people, just, you know, this 

guy once, he wanted an upgrade – this was in the early nineties and he was 

sitting by some babies and I did sympathize with him because, when you 

are fl ying the last thing you need when you are on a ten-hour fl ight is the 

sound of a baby crying and so he came up to me and he said he needed an 

upgrade because he was very tall. That was his fi rst thing and I sympathized 

with that, and then I looked in Business class and we didn’t have any seats 

available, so I wasn’t able to move him into Business class. Then he started 

to get angry and then he said, well I’m not sitting on this fl ight next to these 

babies the whole fl ight and I started to think he’s just after an upgrade, but 

I could see his point, you know, tall – it’s horribly uncomfortable when you’re 

really tall and the seat pitch isn’t great, so I looked at the passenger list and 

I managed to fi nd him a row of seats where he could actually stretch out for 

the whole fl ight. I thought he would be really pleased with that because, you 

know, it’s great having – but actually he wasn’t because what he was after was 

an upgrade, but I couldn’t upgrade him because there were no space we had 

no seats available so I gave him what I thought would be really good and I 

could see that inside he was really miffed, you know, because he thought he 

was going to get a Business class seat and unfortunately I couldn’t do that 

but, you can’t please everybody. I think it is very diffi cult for fl ight attendants 

today. 





ROUND UP 

Ask students to work in small groups to tell each other about 

their worst experience with a disruptive passenger. Then ask 

each group to turn the ‘worst’ story into a newspaper article like 

the ones in the Student’s book. They must think of a headline, 

then write a few sentences to tell the story. Encourage them to 

use vocabulary from the unit. You could pin the stories on the 

classroom wall so that students from other groups can read them. 

37

UNIT 

9 Preparing for landing 


Lead in by playing a mime game to see if students can already 

produce instructions in preparation for landing. Tell students 

that you are a passenger and that the plane is about to land. 

Mime the following: listening to music on headphones; typing 

on a laptop keyboard; closing the window blind; taking your 

seatbelt off; opening a bag; pushing your seat back; standing up. 

After each mime, elicit what a fl ight attendant would say to the 

passenger. 

Making final announcements and checks 


Give students time to read through the questions. Then ask students to 

discuss the questions in pairs. Get feedback in open class. 


Check the following key words: secured (placed or fastened in a safe 

position); assist (help). 


Give students time to read the situation and question. Ask if they can 

predict what the three things are. Play the recording. Students listen 


the end. 

Answers 

3 switch off in-seat power, switch off in-fl ight entertainment system, 

collect headphones 


Ask students to work in pairs to look through the extract and remember 

or guess the missing words. Play the recording. Students listen then 


Answers 

1 shortly 2 switched 3 ensure 4 under 5 away 6 down 7 position 

8 power 9 must 10 assist 11 ready 


Ask students to listen and repeat the purser’s announcement. Encourage 

them to copy the purser’s stress, pausing and intonation. You could get 

students to listen and mark up the extracts as shown in the notes below 

before saying them. 


Note the stress and pausing of the fi rst part of the announcement: 

Please return to your seat // and ensure your hand-baggage // is safely 

secured // in the overhead lockers // 


Ask students to work in pairs to practise reading out the announcement. 

See if any students can memorize the announcements well enough to 

say them to the class without reading. One way of helping students 

memorize extracts like this is to tell them to choose four key words from 

each announcement and write them in a list, then use these words as 

prompts when trying to say the announcements from memory. 

38 


Check disembarkation (getting off the plane) and Sorry to bother you 

(excuse me for interrupting). 


Give students time to read through the sentences and guess the missing 

words. Play the recording. Students listen, complete the sentences and 

then check with a partner. Get feedback in open class. You could ask 

students to work in pairs to practise saying the sentences. 

Answers 

1 blind 2 arrival 3 one 4 front 5 exit; everything 6 bother 7 takes 

8 minibus 9 Everyone 10 coat; locker 

WORD ORDER IN MULTI-WORD VERBS Language focus 




Multi-word verbs like put away and turn off are separable. This means 

that the particle can go before or after the object. So, Put away the 

case and Put the case away are both correct. However, if the object is 

a pronoun the particle always separates. So, Put it away but not Put 

away it. 


Lead in by asking the class to say what the passengers in the photograph 

are doing wrong. Then ask students to work in pairs to practise telling 

the passengers what to do. In feedback, ask different pairs to tell you 

what they would say. 

You could ask pairs to write mini-dialogues of two or three lines between 

fl ight attendant and passenger for three of the situations. Then ask pairs 

to act out their dialogues in open class. 

ROUND UP 

Write a few sentence starters on the board: 

Please put ... 

Make sure you ... 

Please ensure that ... 

Please return ... 

May we remind you that ... 

Ask students to work in pairs to think of two ways of completing 

each sentence. Get feedback in open class.

UNIT 



Ask students, How often do you experience delayed landings on 

fl ights that you work on? How do passengers react? What do you 

do in this situation? What problems does it cause for you? 

Giving information about delayed landings 


Ask students in pairs or small groups to read the situation and discuss 

the questions. Then get feedback in open class and build up a list of 

reasons for delayed landings on the board. 


Check the following key words: climbing (going up); in transit 

(connecting from one fl ight to another); fi ngers crossed (hoping to be 

lucky). 


Give students time to read the situation and questions. Ask, What do 

you think the passenger might have noticed? Play the recording. Students 


at the end. 

Answers 

1 the plane is climbing, not descending 

2 missing a connection to Nice 

3 The airport might be busy. 

4 getting the passenger off the plane fi rst 


Give students time to read the situation and the questions. Play the 

recording. Students listen, note answers and then check in pairs. Get 


Answers 

1 about 30 minutes 

2 a problem on the ground 

3 nine o’clock 

4 10.15 

5 clear immigration 

6 wait for luggage or check in for his fl ight to Nice 

TALKING ABOUT TIME Language focus 




Note the use of take to talk about a duration of time: 

It takes fi ve minutes to get there. 

You could get students practising these questions in a simple 

personalized activity by asking students to ask each other When, What 

time and How long questions, and to answer by imagining they are at the 

start of the last fl ight they went on. 


Give students time to read the questions, then ask them to read the 

announcements and fi nd answers. Let students check their answers in 

pairs before getting feedback in open class. 

Answers 

A runway is closed. They divert to Bordeaux. 



them to synonyms in the text: working properly (in operation); talk to 

you again (get back to you); minor problems (inconvenience); willingness 

to help (cooperation). 


Ask students to work in pairs. Tell each pair to decide who is A and B, 

and to prepare what they are going to say before acting out the role 

play. Remind students to use language in the Language focus box. 

Monitor, prompt students to use rising intonation correctly, and feedback 

on good examples of language use and errors you heard. You could ask a 

couple of pairs to act out a dialogue in open class. 

ROUND UP 

Provide further practice in asking about times by getting 

students to interview each other about a working day. First, ask 

students to work in pairs to prepare When, What time and How 

long questions. Then mix pairs and get students to interview 

each other. You could get students started by suggesting some 

questions. For example: What time do you start work? How long 

does it take to get from your house to the airport? How long does 

it take to check in? etc. Monitor and correct the use of question 

forms. 

39

UNIT 



Ask, What do you have to do in the last ten minutes before 

landing? Why is it a critical period? Is this a stressful time or is it 

routine? How do you feel? 

Getting through the final ten minutes 




Answers 

For cabin crew: fi nal checks on passengers; secure everything 

For passengers: ten minutes to landing; seatbelts fastened 

Next: cabin crew wait for the fi nal warning to take their seats 


Check locked and sealed (closed with a key and connected tightly so that 

no air can escape). 


Give students time to read the situation and the questions. Then play 

the recording. Students listen and note answers. Let them check their 

answers in pairs before getting feedback in open class. 

Answers 

1 yes 

2 check Jutta’s side 

3 She hasn’t fi nished the bar paperwork. 

4 He still has some clearing in to do and a bassinet to put away. And 

there is a passenger in the toilet. 

5 get him to his seat 

6 yes 


Ask students to fi ll the gap with the correct preposition, then check in 


Answers 

1 for 2 in 3 with 4 for 5 on 6 to 

LINKING WORDS Language focus 



Which tense is being used in these phrases? (present perfect simple). 

40 


Here, we use the present perfect simple to express the present result 

of a recent past action. We are not interested in when it took place, 

only in the result. The form of the present perfect simple is have + past 

participle. In short answers, just the auxiliary verb have is used: Yes, 

I have; No, she hasn’t. 


Play the recording. Ask students to listen and repeat. In feedback, ask 

whether they heard rising or falling intonation. 


Intonation rises in yes/no questions. 

➚ 

Have you secured the trolley? 

Intonation falls in short answers: 

➘ 

No, I haven’t. 

Note also the pronunciation of haven’t /h&v@nt/ and hasn’t /h&z@nt/ in 

short answers. 


Give students time to read through the sentences. Check any unknown 

words. Then ask students to discuss the questions in pairs. Get feedback 

in open class at the end. You could extend this by asking students 

in pairs to decide where the strong stresses are in each sentence and 

whether the intonation goes up or down. Then let them practise saying 

the sentences. 

Answers 

Last 20 minutes: 1, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11 

Last 10 minutes: 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 12 


Give students preparation time by telling them to think of at least ten 

things they could ask Have you ...? questions about during the last 

ten or twenty minutes of the fl ight. Then ask them to work in pairs to 

practise asking and answering about fi nal checks. Monitor, prompt, and 

listen for good language use and errors involving the use of the present 

perfect and intonation. 

ROUND UP 

Ask students to describe their actual routine during the last ten 

minutes of fl ights they regularly work on.

UNIT 

9 Case study 


Write on the board: Toilet troubles for Cathay. Ask students if 

they can guess what the text will be about. Ask, Have you ever 

experienced problems with toilets? What happened? What did you 

do about it? 


Give students time to read the questions. Then ask them to read the text 

and make notes. Let students discuss the answers in pairs before getting 


Answers 

1 All of the ten toilets on board became blocked soon after take-off. 

2 The plane had to make an unscheduled landing in Mumbai. 


Write the following words on the board and ask students to match them 

to synonyms in the text: can’t be moved (blocked); clear (obvious); 

uncontrolled (chaos); stopped to an extent (restricted). 








Check the following key words: engage with passengers (talk to them); 

gauge passengers (work out what sort of person they are); get to know 

passengers (meet and become friends with them); appease passengers 

(say things to calm them down when they are angry). 






Answers 

1 to be collected: meal trays, drinks, headsets, blankets (rubbish also 

has to be collected, or ‘cleared in’); to be checked: landing cards, 

seatbelts; to be handed out: immigration forms (then also to be 

checked); to be secured: the cabin, the galley; to be stowed: trolleys 

2 She hadn’t been given a landing card and there was only ten minutes 

before landing. Shon’s crew had not advised her of this; there was a 

breakdown in communication. The woman should have been given the 

forms well in advance of landing. 

3 pilot/co-pilot and passengers: minimal communication, usually 

about the time of arrival, the weather, any delays, thanking passengers 

for travelling with the airline 

passengers and cabin crew: a lot of communication about preparing 

the passengers for landing (having headsets ready for collection, 

fi lling out landing cards and immigration forms, arrival procedures, 

returning to seats and fastening seatbelts, etc.) 

fl ight crew and cabin crew: very minimal communication apart from 

advising that passengers and galley are ready for landing and the 

cabin is secure 

CD2 Track 9.8 

1 Is preparing for landing easier than preparing for take-off? 

S: Preparing for landing is more stressful actually than preparing for take-off 

because with take-off you’ve got just the welcoming of passengers, the safety 

checks and the preparation, but coming in for landing you’ve got the human 

factor. You’ve got people sitting on board, you’ve got drinks and debris that 

you’ve provided – well you haven’t provided the passengers with debris but 

the meal trays, the drinks – all of that is still possibly out in the cabin, you’ve 

got headsets that need to be collected, blankets that need to be collected, 

landing cards that have to be checked, immigration forms that have to 

be handed out and checked to make sure that passengers have completed 

them correctly. On top of that you’ve got your checking of seatbelts and the 

securing of the cabin and the galley, so coming in for landing is actually quite 

stressful because there’s a lot going on during those fi nal sort of ten, fi fteen 

minutes. You’re stowing trolleys, you’re securing the galley, you’re going into 

the cabin, clearing in any rubbish. Also answering questions because people 

are near their arrival so they want to now check with you that their fl ight is 

on time or their connection is going to be there. They might want to ask you 

questions about where do they pick their baggage up, and you’re doing all of 

this while you are completing all the other pre-landing duties, so yes, landing 

duties tend to be a lot more stressful than those for take-off. 

2 Do you remember any special problems with passengers in the fi nal ten minutes? 

S: I don’t remember any particular problems with passengers during that fi nal 

ten minutes of landing, but occasionally, if I can recall one, I remember this 

foreign lady. She had not completed any of the forms and the crew hadn’t 

alerted me to this fact and as I was going through the cabin, checking 

seatbelts and checking tables were stowed, etcetera, the neighbour sitting 

next to this passenger actually just said to me, you know, this lady hasn’t got 

a landing card and it was a bit of a panic because as the senior in charge of 

the fl ight it’s my job to coordinate the landing so that all my crew are doing 

what they should be doing and the cabin is secure, and suddenly I’d got this 

lady that nobody had told me about, who didn’t speak a word of English, and 

we were arriving in ten minutes and I had no history about her, so that was a 

bit of a panic. 

3 Can you briefl y outline communications in the fi nal phases of descent? 

S: The fi nal phases of descent when the aircraft is preparing to land. 

Sometimes there’s minimal communication between the pilot and the 

passenger. It largely depends on what’s going on. I mean they may come 

on to the inter-phone and just thank the passengers for travelling with 

them. They may tell them of weather conditions that they’re expecting and 

of course they will tell the passengers of the local time. Also in that last 

ten minutes of fl ight the captain or co-pilot may just advise passengers of 

any holding. You know, if the fl ight is being delayed for any reason, but 

generally it’s, fairly, it’s kept to the minimum in terms of communication. 

The captain will have made his announcement a good twenty minutes 

prior to landing. That’s on long-haul fl ights. Obviously short-haul fl ights 

it’s slightly different and the cockpit do tend to communicate with the 

passengers a little closer to landing so they may hear something. Between 

the passengers and the cabin crew there’s usually a lot of communication 

going on, particularly on long-haul fl ights where various crew members 

may be informing the passengers of the need to have headsets ready for 

collection. There’ll be another announcement usually made about landing 

cards and immigration forms and then there’s often communication from 

the senior crew member who will be advising the passengers of arrival 

procedures and there’s yet other announcements preparing the passengers 

for landing such as please return to your seats and you need to fasten your 

seatbelts now, so there’s quite a lot of communication going on between 

passengers and cabin crew. Not so much between fl ight crew and passengers 

and very minimal communication really between fl ight crew and cabin 

crew other than the need for the cabin crew to inform the fl ight crew that 

passengers and galleys are all ready for landing, and it’s usually kept to the 

minimum, usually just simple sentences such as captain, cabin now secure, 

or aircraft now secure. 

41

UNIT 

9 Case study 


Divide the class into pairs or small groups to discuss the questions. Get 



ROUND UP 


words and phrases under the following headings: 

Multi-word verbs / Things to check in the last ten minutes / 

Talking about time 


they know, or to search the unit to fi nd words and phrases to write. 

42

UNIT 

10 Saying goodbye 


Ask students to tell you what they say and do once the plane 

comes to a stop at the gate. Ask, What is the biggest problem 

when trying to safely disembark passengers? 

Arriving at the gate and disembarking the passengers 





Check designated (specially selected). 


Give students time to read the situation and the questions. Then ask 

them to work in pairs to make predictions. Get feedback in open class 

and fi nd out what students think. Play the recording. Ask students to 

listen and compare answers. Let students check their answers in pairs 



Ask students to read the text and remember or guess as many missing 

words as they can. Then play the recording. Let students check their 

answers in pairs before getting feedback in open class. 

Answers 

1 behalf 2 entire 3 items 4 stowed 5 ensure 6 personal 7 injury 

8 designated 9 remind 10 ready 11 wish 


Play the recording. Ask students to listen and repeat the phrases. 


Note the linking between words in some of these phrases: please ensure; 

designated area. 


Ask students to work in pairs to practise reading out the announcement. 

Tell them to read it out fi rst, then to try to produce the announcement 

without looking at the text. A good way of supporting students here is to 

tell them to write ten words in a list which will help them remember the 

content of the announcement, and to use these prompts as they try to 

reproduce the text from memory. 

A suggested list of word prompts: welcome; time; seatbelt; luggage; 

lockers; smoking; mobile phones; weather; stay; future ... 

43 

MAKING A RECOMMENDATION Language focus 




I suggest (that) + clause is a polite and formal way of making a 

recommendation. 


Ask students to work in pairs to discuss the special needs of some 

passengers. Ask pairs to prepare and practise a brief role play using the 

phrases suggested. You could get some pairs to act out their role play for 

the class. 


Give students time to read through the list. Then ask them to discuss it 

in pairs. Get feedback and discuss in open class. 


Lead in by asking, What can you say when people leave the plane? What 

else should you do? (smile, wave, stand upright). To make this fun, you 

need to organize it carefully. Ask students to work in groups of fi ve. One 

student stands up and the others fi le past, then walk round in a circle to 

rejoin the queue to leave the plane. The fi fth student takes over as the 

new fl ight attendant and so on until each student has had a chance to 

say goodbye to passengers. 

ROUND UP 

Ask students in pairs or small groups to make a list of 

recommendations that they could give to new fl ight attendants 

on their fi rst day in the job. For example: I suggest that you keep 

a sense of humour. Elicit recommendations from pairs or groups 

and build up a list on the board.

UNIT 

10 Saying goodbye 


Write the following situations on the board: 

Preparing the cabin for take-off 

Serving food and drinks during the fl ight 

The last ten minutes before landing 

Ask, What should cabin crew do during each of these parts of a 

fl ight? Elicit answers and ideas. 

This activity tests students’ ability to use should appropriately. 

Taking part in the crew debriefing 


Give students time to read the questions and choose answers. Then ask 

them to discuss their answers in pairs. Get feedback in open class and 

fi nd out if there are any differences of opinion. 

Answers 

1 a (long-haul) / c (short-haul) 2 b 3 c 4 c 


Check the following key words: assumptions (thinking something will 

happen without checking that it will); urgency (a sense of the need to 

hurry and work quickly). 


Give students time to read the questions and check any unknown words. 



Answers 

1 because they are all tired 

2 from positive comments from the passengers 

3 delay in shutting down the meals service and the coffee pots spillage 

4 because they were delayed by a diffi cult passenger 

5 shut down / end of service / everyone should be sitting down 

6 communicated better with her team 

7 It overturned and all the coffee pots fell on the fl oor. 

8 a T b T c F d F e T 

SHOULD Language focus 


read out the phrases and ask students to read and follow. Ask, What is 

the form of these two structures? (see below); Which sentences express an 

obligation, a regret, a criticism? (see below) (should + infi nitive; should + 

have + past participle). 


Note the form and use: 

should + infi nitive to talk about mild obligations or give strong advice. 

We should talk about it. (an obligation) 

You should act more promptly. (advice) 

should + have + past participle to express regrets about the past and 

criticisms of past actions. 

I should’ve communicated better. (regret/criticism) 

You should have told them to stop. (criticism) 




Note the pronunciation of should /SUd/, shouldn’t /SUd@nt/, 

should’ve /SUdev/ and shouldn’t have /SUd@nt@v/. Should is strongly 

stressed in these sentences. 


Ask students to work in pairs to come up with sentences using should 

have to express regrets. Monitor and check students are pronouncing 

the structure correctly. In feedback, elicit some interesting regrets from 

students. 


Ask students to work in pairs to match the words. Get brief feedback 

in open class and check understanding. Then ask students to discuss 

what makes a good team in pairs or small groups. Monitor, prompt and 

encourage. Note examples of good language use and errors to comment 

on in feedback. 

Answers 

1 c 2 e 3 a 4 f 5 b 6 d 

ROUND UP 

Write, A good cabin crew should ... on the board. Ask students to 

work in small groups to come up with a list of ten things that 

make a good cabin crew. Then ask each group to design a poster 

listing their top ten things. 

44

UNIT 

10 Case study 


Write, My heroes on the board. Ask students, Who are your 

personal heroes? Why do you admire them? What qualities do 

they have? Ask whether students know of any stories of heroism 

involving pilots or cabin crew. 


Give students time to read the task and the questions, and check any 

unknown words. Then ask students to read the text and make notes. Let 

students discuss their answers in pairs before getting feedback in open 

class. 

Answers 

1 There was a terrorism incident. A man tried to explode a device during 

the fi nal minutes of normal descent. 

2 The explosive device was a six-inch packet of high explosives called 

PETN, along with a syringe. It was hidden in the man’s underpants. 

3 They reacted quickly. Once they understood what was happening, they 

jumped on the terrorist, used blankets and a fi re extinguisher to put 

out the fl ames, restrained the man and put him securely in the front of 

the plane. 



them to synonyms in the text: a noise which sounds like a sudden release 

of air (pop/popping); ‘pieces’ of fi re (fl ames); fi ght back or try to escape 

(resist). 








Check the following key words: impacted (had a big effect on); allocate 

(give to specifi cally). 

You could also check the expression the fi nal straw that broke the camel’s 

back, which means the last in a series of bad things to happen which 

fi nally made someone lose their temper, get upset or give up. 






Play the recording again. Students listen and complete their answers. Let 

them check their answers in pairs before getting feedback. In feedback, 

check the meaning of the four adjectives Shon uses. 

Answers 

1 the cabin, their safety areas, every toilet, every seat and under the 

seat, the galley areas 

2 those passengers who may be disabled or may have special 

requirements or special needs 

3 From: hard work, worthwhile, highly rewarding, fun, exciting 


1 Has the threat of terrorism changed the fl ight attendant’s job? 

S: I think the fl ight attendant’s job has changed signifi cantly since the threat of 

terrorism and this has impacted on their preparation time prior to passenger 

45 

boarding of a fl ight. For example, most airlines would allocate fi fteen minutes 

for crew to prepare their fl ight and welcome passengers, but that time has 

been dramatically reduced because of the time that fl ight attendants are 

now expected, and indeed probably want to themselves, check the cabin and 

check their safety areas – would involve things such as checking every single 

toilet on board to make sure there were no messages written on mirrors or any 

packaging stowed. They have to check every single seat, and under the seat, 

and in their own interests and in the interests of the passengers they have to 

check the galley areas too. So, the threat of terrorism has defi nitely impacted 

on the role of fl ight attendant. 

2 When the plane touches down is that the end of your duties? 

S: When the aircraft fi nally lands it’s not quite the end of the fl ight attendant’s 

duties. We have to ensure that all passengers are seated until the aircraft 

comes to a complete stop, and then, of course, when the doors are opened 

it’s the fl ight attendant’s job to help passengers disembark the aircraft 

and certainly those passengers who may be disabled or may have special 

requirements or special needs, we will look after those passengers until all 

passengers are disembarked from the aircraft. Once all the passengers are off 

the aircraft that effectively becomes the end of the fl ight attendant’s duties. 

3 Is the fl ight attendant’s job the same today as it was in the past? 

S: I think the job of a fl ight attendant today is very different to that which used 

to be the case, say twenty or thirty years ago. It is very hard work these days 

and I think you have to be committed to looking after people. You have to be 

interested in people and you have to genuinely enjoy giving people a positive 

customer experience, so it is hard work. There are lots of situations that occur 

that, you know, you’ll never experience in any other job. But it’s a worthwhile 

job, it’s still a highly rewarding one. It’s fun, it’s exciting and if you like 

working with people and enjoy seeing people more than satisfi ed, then fl ying 

as a fl ight attendant is a great career. 





ROUND UP 

Activity 1 

Revise the course by asking students in pairs or small groups 

to brainstorm words and phrases they have learnt under the 


Welcoming passengers 

Food and drink 

Dealing with problems and complaints 

Emergency procedures 

Preparing for landing 

Give students fi ve minutes, then fi nd out how many useful words 

and expressions students can remember. 

Activity 2 

End the course with a discussion. Ask, What do you do in a 

typical week? What are the best things and worst things about 

being a fl ight attendant? What advice would you give to someone 

starting out in your profession? How do you see the future of your 

profession?

English for Cabin Crew Trainer's Guide - Heinle

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