Originally Posted by
scambo1
When you leave the 88 for the er, you will not want to leave. If you survived a decade on the 88 with all your hair, it will start growing in Viking blonde. You will gain a little weight until you figure out not to eat everything offered. You will sleep in comfortable hotels in nice places. You will become a beer snob even if you don't drink. You will think you've been $crewed unless you have at least 1 Germany per month on your line. Green slips will be fun to fly. You will be epic.
Then we will merge, some chicanery will result in the other airline's smaller jets merged into the bottom 2/3 of your ER position, the company will move flying around and you'll be displaced. BUT, having now having consumed the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge you are aware of the original sin and evil in the MD88. About the best you can do will be the 737, which is to the beloved ER is sorta like a British Leyland version of a sports car. It's an old design with not a whole lot of power and 6 inches too small in every direction. It's electronics are a bit dodgy, it's brakes can be ineffective when you need to stop suddenly and there's no place for your stuff. It also likes to drag it's dangly bits on the ground because the wheels are too small. Like a MGB, it's a momentum machine, you get it going and it goes reasonably well, but the noise makes you think you must be going faster than you are. The spoilers rumble and vibrate, not unlike a set of warped brake rotors, and like the MGB, it is best to scrub speed slowly since there is no way to change momentum in a hurry.
Having metaphorically described the career path of every Delta pilot I know ... here's your new ride:
... now the question is, which one?