The ER is a senior airplane with some of the best flying and variety in the airline. But there is a reason 12,000 pilots all say "no thanks" to being junior on it.

Not that long ago it was the queen of the fleet. The worst thing you could get was a evening JFK report for a 24 hour layover in DUB (2 man ops, lower credit compared to points east) as it was an international category. Now its mostly domestic, tons of early AM reports, lots of red eyes West and South, lots of Mexico City, reporting from all 3 airports, and it lives in the malaria belt when it does fly over water. There is still some premium flying embedded within the mix, but junior pilots will only see it sporadically on reserve or the occasional trip trade.

Its also a shrinking fleet, and while there *should* be enough positive movement to avoid most involuntary displacements, this round of new hires on the ER will be the first to get bumped if enough pilots don't voluntarily bid off as it shrinks.

One positive the fleet historically had was that in the trough months it was radically over staffed. To the point where even junior pilots could get a lot of time at home on long call. But staffing is tighter in general these days, and network has gotten pretty good at finding things for pilots to do in all but the fattest months.

Absolutely go for it if you gotta have big or have the Paris-First-Class-International bug. Just keep in mind the down sides, and that junior pilots will get a lot of that. Then as you start to get senior, people will continue to pile on top of you for a while because it truly is a fantastic plane to be on when you have some seniority. Everyone wants it. But no one wants to be very junior on it.

Also keep in mind that the plane and the flying that it does will be there for your entire career, and you will be able to jump the line whenever you feel you hit the sweet spot to do the kind of flying you like, without ever having to put up with the negatives. YMMV.