Airline Internship

WheatonPilot68

WheatonPilot68

Well-Known Member
Hey I'm a Private Multi rated pilot that is also a full time college sophmore. I am planning on obtaining my instrument rating in January/febuary. I was wondering if there is any internship in the airliners I can go to that's related to the pilot side. I am also at a college without an aviation program.
 
I'm pretty sure most major and regional airlines offer flight operations internships, though you'll not actually fly the planes, you still learn a lot about how the airlines operate.
 
WheatonPilot68 said:
Hey I'm a Private Multi rated pilot that is also a full time college sophmore. I am planning on obtaining my instrument rating in January/febuary. I was wondering if there is any internship in the airliners I can go to that's related to the pilot side. I am also at a college without an aviation program.
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There are, and I'm sure you can apply whether you're in an aviation program or not.

I recommend it.

I was an intern at Northwest and I am still amazed when I think back to how much I was allowed to do as an intern in the ASAP program.

Riding the jumpseat several times a week for months on end is also an excellent way to get a little bit of a preview of multi-pilot operations before you enter that environment yourself.

Delta, United (CAL), UPS, FedEx, and Southwest all have intern positions available.

I'd try and do an internship at that level of the industry. Reason being, when hiring is going on, you might not get your first choice of regional F/O job, but later on, when you meet the minimums to a job you'd like to spend a career at, there's a better chance you'll know someone who can help you get an interview (if you didn't meet someone that could sponsor you at that company yet).
 
I did one with American back in the summer of 08 and got to see/do a lot of cool stuff as well as jumpseat privileges and unlimited travel on weekends. You will learn a lot about the inner workings of a major airline. As interns, we went up to Seattle for a Boeing tour, Oklahoma City for a high altitude chamber, toured a heavy maintenance facility, etc. It was one of the coolest summers and made some good friends while traveling all over the US on the weekends, even made it down to Puerto Rico one weekend.

How it benefited me now, I applied at American Eagle and got an invite to interview 30 minutes later thanks to the internship. I worked under the chief pilot in Dallas and made several contacts of the higher ups on the American side when they start hiring off the street. It's all of what you make of it so take 3 months and go have fun.
 
WheatonPilot68 said:
Thanks for the help. But one more question: what would be the routine duties done by a flight operations intern?
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Also interned at Northwest a semester before Nick did. The routine of an intern will depend on what department/fleet you're placed in. I was in the safety department, so my duties were different from that of an intern that was placed in a particular fleet. That's the way it was at NW, and it'll probably different depending on the airline you're with. One common thread I've heard though is....revisions. Lots of them.

Wouldn't have traded my experience at NW for anything though. Gained so much insight into the 121 world and made lots of connections. If you have the opportunity to do it, take it!
 
Nick said:
There are, and I'm sure you can apply whether you're in an aviation program or not.

I recommend it.

I was an intern at Northwest and I am still amazed when I think back to how much I was allowed to do as an intern in the ASAP program.

Riding the jumpseat several times a week for months on end is also an excellent way to get a little bit of a preview of multi-pilot operations before you enter that environment yourself.

Delta, United (CAL), UPS, FedEx, and Southwest all have intern positions available.

I'd try and do an internship at that level of the industry. Reason being, when hiring is going on, you might not get your first choice of regional F/O job, but later on, when you meet the minimums to a job you'd like to spend a career at, there's a better chance you'll know someone who can help you get an interview (if you didn't meet someone that could sponsor you at that company yet).
Click to expand...

Good advice here.

I did with one with Comair about 7 years and I while it was great and led to a job (which I was going to get furloughed from), it was still beneficial, but I recommend doing one with the aforementioned companies.
 
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