Behind the scenes is ‘fascinating’ for Kohawk hired as the Eastern Iowa Airport’s first aviation management intern
What started as a “really enjoyable” Intro to Aviation course with Eastern Iowa Airport Director Marty Lenss has evolved into a full-fledged aviation management internship for Kohawk aviation management & flight operations student Arian Kantarevic ’29. This summer, Kantarevic will have an expanded aviation experience as the airport’s first aviation management intern.
Coe College has been named a Top 25 Best Private School for Internships in the country six of the last eight years by The Princeton Review. The 10-week paid aviation management internship will be available each summer and will provide a first-hand experience across the airport’s organizational structure.
“I really enjoyed the aviation management class with Marty. I found it so fascinating whenever he would take us behind the scenes. I knew instantly that I would want this internship. Seeing the logistics and reasoning behind everything was so cool in class and I knew I needed more,” Kantarevic said.
Kantarevic will interact with administration, operations, finance, facilities, guest services, IT, marketing, maintenance and public safety.
“The idea is that the widespread exposure to operations helps the students in this internship now and in the future identify the area of aviation they would like to specialize in post-graduation,” Lenss said.
“I’m really excited to meet and connect with new people at the airport, as well as understand the effort and precision that goes into ensuring an airport runs as smoothly as CID does. I think I will see a lot of cool stuff most people have no idea about, which is also why I am very excited to be a small part of CID's big journey this summer,” Kantarevic said.
The first class of Kohawk aviators just completed their first year of flight training, and Kantarevic has almost earned his private pilot license. He plans to fly out of the airport over the summer to get flight hours and sightsee over Cedar Rapids.
All Coe aviation students can progress to that first flight training milestone as all Kohawks start flight training right away in their first term. Many will eventually earn their air transport license and become commercial or freight pilots. The current pilot shortage is estimated to be at 17,000, and that gap is driving starting salaries for commercial pilots toward $90,000 in some instances.