An agreement with two airlines will assist aviation graduate students in finding jobs by providing guaranteed interviews, the aviation director said.

The OU Department of Aviation completed a direct-hire agreement with American Eagle Airlines and Pinnacle Airlines, said Max Westheimer Airport Aviation Director Ken Carson.

The agreement contracts guarantee students interviews with the airlines, and the airlines can directly hire graduates without interviews.

Pinnacle Airlines’ agreement was completed Feb. 18 and American Eagle Airlines’ agreement on Feb. 28. The university or the airlines may terminate the direct-hiring arrangement at any time, according to the agreements.

“The University of Oklahoma is one of only two schools in the country that has this type of agreement,” Carson said. “The other agreement is at Western Michigan University.”

Other universities’ knowledge of these agreements has been limited due to unspoken competition for jobs after graduation, Carson said. OU does not necessarily want Oklahoma State University, which also has an aviation program, to know about the hiring agreement, Carson said.

Aerospace engineering junior Michael Johnson said he had not heard anything about the direct-hire agreement until he received an e-mail about it from the department. Johnson wants to be a test pilot, and said the agreements with the airlines are a great career opportunity for some students.

Michael McCarter, aviation management junior, said when he first got the e-mail, he was skeptical about the direct-hire agreement because sometimes an agreement only guarantees an interview and not a job.

Pinnacle Airlines, which is larger than American Eagle Airlines, is based out of Memphis, Tenn., and mostly flies in the East Coast area, Carson said. However, Pinnacle has several flights through other parts of the United States, including Oklahoma.

American Eagle Airlines is the regional partner of American Airlines and operates more than 270 aircraft, according to its website.

OU aviation students who want to know more about the agreements can read copies of the press releases for both Pinnacle Airlines and American Eagle Airlines in the Career Corner on the second floor of Max Westheimer Airport’s terminal building.

“It’s a great opportunity in all honesty for someone looking to go into the airline industry as a pilot because this is basically their ticket in,” McCarter said.