anything new @ ACA?

[Flyforyou]

Platinumclub,

Sorry you and the others had such a bad experience. I can tell you it was A LOT different back in the "old days" of the program(5 years ago). I hope you shared your experiences with your co-ordinator back at school and the person running the program here at ACA. Maybe someday it could actually be a good program again.

 

[subin30]

hey platinumclub, thanks for the warning and your honest intern point of view. Those guys at ACA surely juice up the benefits of the internship. My mentor pilot (Instructor/Capt @ACA) suggested I decline the internship and build experience. With the right amount of flight time, his recommendation may be enough for a interview down the road... you guys saved me from 13 weeks of free labor...

 

[Tim47SIP]

Platinumwannabe

because WE were the free labor keeping them afloat.

I seriously doubt that this was the case. I think they are doing just fine without you. 13 weeks as an intern and you think that you deserve a job? It is a lot tougher out there than it used to be. Not getting down on you, but you really need to wake up or grow up, whichever comes first. I think that the days of the 300 hour interns getting hired are close to gone. We had allot of trouble with the ones (not all) we hired in 2000/2001/2002. With the experience on the street today, if any interns get hired it will be very few and only due to contractual agreements with ERAU or other bridge program schools which I am totally unaware of. If I were you or one of your compatriots, I would think of trying to get through the doors the old fashion way, hard work and perseverance. Good luck to all of you! I mean that!

 

[platinumclub]

Oops

I don't mean to come down on ACA as a company at all, and I'm sure I'd be singing a different tune if I got hired, but that is not the case. ACA was (is...?) one of the best regionals out there, most of the pilots I spoke with seemed happy with the company. However, I took the internship (foolish decision on my part, don't need to be scolded) for the reason of getting an airline job. All of you know that getting your foot in the door is what gets you ahead in this industry. Just because an intern gets a job with 600 hours as a reward for doing an internship does not mean they are not willing to do it the old fashion way, as many assume. It just means they were ambitious enough to look for a way to get their career started a little quicker, as I was. I'm sorry if I stepped on anyone's feet with my post, but that was my experience along with that of a few other, not everyone feels that way I'm sure, but there are better ways to get a great internship experience. :

 

[DrewBlows]

because WE were the free labor keeping them afloat.

We had allot of trouble with the ones (not all) we hired in 2000/2001/2002.

What kind of trouble, the last I heard 100% of the interns who were hired passed training.

 

[j41driver]

What kind of trouble, the last I heard 100% of the interns who were hired passed training.

I know that more than one intern complained to the company when they were assigned the J41. They were expecting the CRJ and thought that it was unfair to get the J41. I'm not sure how it's unfair that a 600 hour pilot got ANY airline job.

 

[GogglesPisano]

Are you kidding? I doubt 100% of any demographic has passed training at ACA. Do you seriously think that no intern, even during the "dark days" of CRJ training (1997-2002) ever busted a checkride?

 

[piav8r]

I went through the ACA intern program and had a great time. I was one of the last crew that went through in the summer of 2002. Also officially the last of 2 interns hired, and started training in January of '03, got furloughed in April of '03.

Did I get worked during the internship? Oh yeah! Did I learn a lot? He!! yeah. Do I realize that I was one lucky sob to get hired when I did, YOU ARE D@%?N RIGHT!!!

I learned through mistakes that I made and through watching others. I would have gladly accepted any airplane that had wings when I got hired, I didn't care if I got J41, CRJ, or FRJ. I was just d@%n glad to have a job and I can't wait to come back.

Hanging on by a thread...

 

[Yeah]

I was an intern back in 01. Got hired shortly there after. At that time NO intern had ever failed initial training.

It was a very good deal back in the day. I guess you have to ask yourself what else are you going to do. I say AirNet. Have flown with a bunch, as we have a lot at ACA, and all enjoyed the company and experience. I few AirNet pilots I know elected to stay there and make really good pay with weekends off.

Independence Air will fly.

 

[Midwest]

<<======== former ACA intern

BoilerUp, if you're still in college, do the internship for sure. Working for 13 weeks without getting paid, BFD it's only 13 weeks and it goes a lot faster than you think. I enjoyed my time with the company, met a lot fun people (some of who I live with now) and I even learned something while I was there. Now, I have a job instructing in the area. I don't plan on getting hired with ACA in the near future, but it's a card I have in my hand to use down the road. Eventually I'll get hired with somone, gain some more experience and maybe I'll put in a resume with ACA/Indy when things turn around.

Basically I'm glad I did the internship. I wouldn't turn it down if I were in your shoes. Just my $.02