Jetrader - September/October 2013 - 41

ISTAT foundation

The Launch of
Damon D’Agostino,
Chief Commercial Officer,
Aerospace, CIT Group Inc.

I

ISTAT University

Interns may get a bad rap at times, but
in my experience, they can create a lot
of value—not only in helping to develop
young people, but also in ensuring that
companies have access to a pool of skilled
and knowledgeable employees in the future.
In that spirit, I’m extremely pleased to
announce the formation of a new ISTAT
Internship & Development Committee,
“ISTAT University,” which has evolved out
of our former Internship Committee as the
brainchild of our immediate past chairman,
Warren Willits. The committee will have
three priorities:
1. Renew ISTAT’s focus on paid internships
by using member companies to provide
valuable experience for students and arm
them with the skills to become full-time
employees in the future.
2. Strengthen ISTAT’s relationships with
universities that offer aviation programs,
particularly those with management
training curriculums.
3. Develop a training program to supplement university programs that would
be certified by ISTAT and would help
students gain even deeper and more
specific industry knowledge.

In all of these efforts, the committee
will be working closely with Dana Lockhart
and the Scholarship Committee members,
whose leadership of the ISTAT Foundation
Scholarship Program helped award nearly
$200,000 in scholarships last year for
university students preparing for careers
in aviation.
Lockhart and the other members of
the committee have been instrumental
in developing ties with universities and
internal partners to help support the next
generation of aviation leaders. Our aim is
to retain these passionate students in our
segment of the industry.
We heard from several members that it
could be difﬁcult to ﬁnd interns who can do
meaningful work, add value to your organizations and perhaps one day become full-time
employees. This committee will assist our
members by helping produce graduates with
skills our member companies need.
My hope in serving as the chair of this
new committee is to replicate the success
I’ve seen with our internship program at CIT
for other ISTAT member organizations across
the globe. While we have hired many of our
interns after they completed their studies,

we also know that the experience they gain
beneﬁts the industry even when we don’t
have an opening for them after graduation.
A recent success story: Duane Miner
completed an internship with CIT before
being hired by US Airways as a senior
ﬁnancial analyst. He has since been promoted to the position of corporate ﬁnance
manager working on aircraft lease returns.
His work with CIT not only put him on the
path to future success, it gave CIT access
to fresh thinking.

I’m looking for a
few more leaders
who are passionate
about students and
education to join
us to work on these
important initiatives.
This is exactly the type of experience
we’d like to cultivate for ISTAT member
companies. I’m extremely excited about
leading this committee and building on the
Scholarship Committee’s important work with
universities and students across the globe.
In this, I could certainly use your help.
I have already been honored to bring a few
key people on board at the committee, and
I’m looking for a few more leaders who are
passionate about students and education to
join us to work on these important initiatives. If you’re interested, please contact
me at damon.dagostino@cit.com.
In the meantime, please reach out to
me for more information on how your company can participate in the 2014 internship
program.
Jetrader • September/October 2013 41
Jetrader - September/October 2013

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