Last June 2011 I started my 6-months internship (co-op) in American Airlines (AA) headquerters in Dallas/Fort-Worth, Texas. I’m so blessed to be part of the ADEPT 2011 program.
ADEPT stands for American Airlines Development Program for Technology, it is a two-year program designed to develop new hires for AA Information Technology Services (ITS). It was first started in 2006. The ADEPT members are recruited from different universities, in the 2011 class we had members from UT-Austin, UT-Arlington, UT-PanAm, Texas A&M, LSU, OU, etc.
So technically, I’m not a full ADEPT 2011 class member because I’m just having 6-month internship. But… for the whole six months I have been engaged in most of the courses, trainings, and programs they have, and that’s sweeet!
Brown bag lunches with AA Managing Directors, and VPs once a month.
The first two weeks of the ADEPT program is orientation, and it was full of good stuff, too good I should say.
Meet with AA CIO, Monte Ford.
This is one of the best things that I like from the ADEPT program, we get the opportunities to have lunches with the Managing Directors and VPs every month, how cool is that! We get to know the departments where they are working in, know their experiences in the company, and get great tips and advise from them.
AA is really a huge company with a lot of different departments and groups, even for the ITS itself! WAM gives us the chance to spent and see what the other groups are doing, and most importantly, how what they do connect with the other parts of the company (including our group). I think this is great, because it encourages us to understand more about the process in the company, and not only the group that we are working in.
As if everything that I’ve mentioned above are not good enough, the travel privileges seals the deal! Have you ever thought of going somewhere on any weekend? The AA travel privileges made it happen. I went to Salt Lake City for a day on Sunday because I was so curious about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and I just had the idea on Friday morning. I visited my families in Seattle and Houston when I thought I want to, sometimes just the day before. Every weekend you can be anywhere you want (provided the flight is not full), the possibilities are endless.
This is a negative thing for intern like me who is not going to spent more than few months in Dallas. I was lucky to know someone who I can rent a room in his house, and also I had my sister’s car that I can borrow. But for some others, this might be a bit tricky because the public transportation system in Dallas, though I believe is good enough, is not so convenient.
Me and all the other interns agree that the ADEPT program is so underrated. We didn’t really know about this obviously great program until we were hired. AA also has a great work culture that I like from the very first beginning, most of the people are open-minded and friendly. More than that, the airlines industry is a very fascinating and fast-speed one where challenges to stay competitive and profitable are always around.
I know that AA is not a perfect company. I’m aware with the customer complaints around the internet, and also how the company is struggling to make profit in the recent years. Just few days ago, the company also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy which makes some mixed comments around.
Awesome post man! Takes me back to the summer days.