Originally Posted by FlyerJosh

Hector,

Fair or not, right now the airlines have more than plenty of folks who will line up to do an internship. Because of this, they can essentially dictate who they want to choose from...

If only opening internships to people with aviation majors results in 2000 applications for 20 internships, why include people with a minor and end up with another 1500 for the same number of positions? (Those are arbitrary numbers, but you get my drift).

Maybe airlines think that people who have aviation majors are more "committed". Who knows-

As far as UND/ERAU (and other major schools) getting the most internship opportunities, its simple- each of those schools has an established reputation and relationship with the employers that offer internships. In many cases, it's because of graduates who now work at those companies and now have the authority to create or effect the internship program. (For UND, a perfect example is the internship/hiring agreement they have with Horizon, where the Chief Pilot is a UND graduate).

Simply put, larger schools put out more graduates, who in turn have a larger networking base, which ends up benefiting the school. It's not an equal opportunity thing- it's an industry networking thing. (Just like in real life, the more people you know the better the job pool will likely be).

I can say that if/when I'm ever in a position to start an internship program, my alma mater (UND) will be where I turn to for candidates...