AA Internship offer

deadpixel

deadpixel

Well-Known Member
I got offered today to be an intern for American Airlines in the flight operations department this summer! I have until Monday to accept. I do not wanna roll the dice and say no to one in hopes that I get some more interviews lined up (had one phone interview with Alaska).

The internship is down in Dallas starting may 16 going through August 11. Anybody here have any leads or suggestions on housing? That's really the part I'm most concerned about trying to find something economical/affordable for just 3 months. Anything is appreciated!
 
Congrats man! Check out Craigslist. I bet you could find a cheap place to stay for 3 months over the summer.

As far as turning it down for another internship that you're unsure of. That is a difficult choice. Ask yourself what is it you're trying to gain from your internship experience, and will American provide you with the experience needed?
 
Try to see if if the HR department will make a LinkedIn group for all of the interns.

I hope it's paid. It's funny how only aviation internships seem to be unpaid.

EDIT- just saw the paid ones are $9. Good god! Good engineering/IT companies pay ~ $25/hr for interns. Ask me how I know. The average internship is ~15-17/hr.
 
Alaska does a lot of phone interviews for their internships, don't hold your breath... They get about 10,000 applications, not sure how many phone interviews they do, but it's a lot. I got an in person interview, and still didn't get it. If you got an AA internship, take it.
 
Chief Captain said:
What exactly does an intern do?
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Usually whatever the full timers don't like doing.

That's what I've always had my interns do. But, I also have them plan "Intern Golf Day," (which means planning a golf outing for management, during their last week, with specific instructions to talk about how awesome I am. They are usually happy the folks with VP titles show up to such a thing.

$20/hour was typical for engineering/software interns back in the late 90's when I was a kid. I'm sure it pays more now, we did the same work as the grownups, but figured we were paying our dues for the experience. We quickly learned that they just gave us the same work, it was mostly a recruiting thing.
 
If your interests are with the airline as a pilot ( or otherwise) do what it takes to make it happen. Internships are a very easy way to shave years off of necessary experience to get to the " next level."
 
Baronman said:
If your interests are with the airline as a pilot ( or otherwise) do what it takes to make it happen. Internships are a very easy way to shave years off of necessary experience to get to the " next level."
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This ^^. I did 2 flight operation internships in college and both of them have given me quite the experience! Also the amount of contacts and networking you are going to make far surpasses any other way of getting to know people.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. As far as holding out the only reason I'm truly weary about this internship is that it is unpaid...and it is the only one that is unpaid that I applied for (and the first to get an offer from). The experience at any of them will be great, but I have a bug in my throat that I'm doing a disservice to myself (and this industry) for willing to work for nothing. Every other internship is 12 dollars an hour. Exception is a year long coop with FedEx that is salaried at 28K.

As far as what interns do that's a great question. I've heard anything to Jepp revisions to looking apu usage, damage reports, etc, so a wide range of stuff. I'm also an econ major and expressed interest with working with the marketing and capacity planning department as well. The current intern in Chicago got to sit in on a 777 international ground school, and if you work at the HQ you get the chance to be in a longer ground school (you also get to use the simulators). She also got to go on a delivery flight.

My buddies and I hung out last night and he just got one for sun country, and everyone I've said that short term the $ is going to suck, but long term the experience and contacts I'll make will surpass anything I could have made. So I've got some thinking to do the next couple of days.
 
deadpixel said:
Thanks for all the advice guys. As far as holding out the only reason I'm truly weary about this internship is that it is unpaid...and it is the only one that is unpaid that I applied for (and the first to get an offer from). The experience at any of them will be great, but I have a bug in my throat that I'm doing a disservice to myself (and this industry) for willing to work for nothing. Every other internship is 12 dollars an hour. Exception is a year long coop with FedEx that is salaried at 28K.
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I wouldn't do it. How many internships have you applied for? Surely you have a chance at another place? Unpaid just sounds unreasonable. You will be doing work, and it's not like a vacation. It's like giving the company "free labor." :bang:

The company might view it as doing a favor for you, but the reality is, it's still a job that deserves some sort of financial compensation.

I was an intern at a company that paid me hourly and overtime. They even provided free housing at a small college campus. To me it just sounds unreasonable to be unpaid when you're sacrificing so much time and effort.
 
I applied for pretty much every major airline and a couple of small ones, so in total maybe 10? As I said earlier I phone interviewed with Alaska and they said they will contact me hopefully within a week but it could be later about the next step in the process. I talked to someone who said United is getting ready to start phone interviews next week for their internship. The FedEx coop just closed on March 27 and I think it was a UND thing only, but I'm not sure when I would hear back from them. Haven't heard from Delta (they apparently started phone interviews last week), Allegiant, Desert Jet, Omni Air, Republic. I applied for a Southwest internship but it's for the fall so I'm not concerned about it right now.
 
Well after much deliberation and talks with the parents we both agreed that AA would be a great opportunity, but I simply cannot pull it off financially. I talked about too the stigma off this industry and people working for pennies on the dollars for that multi time, or pic time etc and I think it starts at the bottom here with willing to work for free for 3 months. I'm hoping with my skills and qualifications that I will be hearing back from other companies soon. I've just heard back from Desert Jet about their internship (paid) and will be interviewing with them in a week. While I'm sad about knowing that I am turning down something that is great in Dallas, I am hopeful for the future with some of these other companies and hope to be hearing back soon. Thanks for all your help JC.
 
deadpixel said:
Well after much deliberation and talks with the parents we both agreed that AA would be a great opportunity, but I simply cannot pull it off financially. I talked about too the stigma off this industry and people working for pennies on the dollars for that multi time, or pic time etc and I think it starts at the bottom here with willing to work for free for 3 months. I'm hoping with my skills and qualifications that I will be hearing back from other companies soon. I've just heard back from Desert Jet about their internship (paid) and will be interviewing with them in a week. While I'm sad about knowing that I am turning down something that is great in Dallas, I am hopeful for the future with some of these other companies and hope to be hearing back soon. Thanks for all your help JC.
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Good for you man. I'm sure something better will turn up that is paid. Let us know where you end up.
 
Don't do it. Unpaid internships IMO are a form of slavery. I won't hire someone who did an unpaid internship.
 
mshunter said:
Don't do it. Unpaid internships IMO are a form of slavery. I won't hire someone who did an unpaid internship.
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Most of them are unpaid...but one day down the road they may pay off rather well for those who did them and still want to be hired by the same company with which they did them. Therefore by showing how hard-working and useful you, you may one day luck out and be given a little further consideration when you apply at said company. So, I guess internees are somewhat being compensated in some way. It's a minor gamble at any rate whether one elects to do them or not as it won't hurt one's career--if anything it shows that an applicant is ambitious and wants to further himself. That being said, I've never done an internship with any company in aviation. I'd rather spend the time working for on hand disposable $...but I don't see how it's a negative whether someone did an internship.
 
Unless you are working for a non-profit or meet the strict DOL guidelines for an internship, unpaid internships are illegal. Ask Sony!
 
FoodStampsPilot said:
Most of them are unpaid...but one day down the road they may pay off rather well for those who did them and still want to be hired by the same company with which they did them. Therefore by showing how hard-working and useful you, you may one day luck out and be given a little further consideration when you apply at said company. So, I guess internees are somewhat being compensated in some way. It's a minor gamble at any rate whether one elects to do them or not as it won't hurt one's career--if anything it shows that an applicant is ambitious and wants to further himself. That being said, I've never done an internship with any company in aviation. I'd rather spend the time working for on hand disposable $...but I don't see how it's a negative whether someone did an internship.
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You can justify it however you want. Working for free is still working for free. It's like cutting off your nose to spite your face. You are working when you are an intern.
 
mshunter said:
Don't do it. Unpaid internships IMO are a form of slavery. I won't hire someone who did an unpaid internship.
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Count me out, then; I've done an unpaid internship, and it was a fantastic experience that I'm glad I had the opportunity to participate in.
 
jtrain609 said:
Count me out, then; I've done an unpaid internship, and it was a fantastic experience that I'm glad I had the opportunity to participate in.
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Ditto.

(It's also known as "research" in academia, and while you may receive other valuable consideration for it, monetary compensation for your efforts is extremely rare at the undergraduate level.)
 
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