LAX 7ER or LAX 73N - Local New Hire
 

Anyone have any recommendations on if I should bid the 7ER or the 73N at LAX as a new hire living locally.

7ER. Much better trips and QOL, higher pay after year 1. It’s typically understaffed as well (great for premium flying GS trips)

73N in LAX is a very small category. 7ER is much larger, more trip variety, higher pay. Training is a bit longer and you will not move up in seniority very fast but it’s a great category.

757. You will get a displacement as the ER's consolidate east and be out of a seat lock.

The only downside with the ER is that you are most likely guaranteeing yourself another month long training event at some point in your first 2 or 3 years. Even more of a pain if that time is spent in ATL vs SLC. Our training footprints are not very conducive to getting home much during that month if you are a West Coaster.

This! Virginia Ave sucks. Virginia Ave for a west coaster is somewhere between the 3rd and 4th circles. Keep in mind that they can and do give out A periods to west coast people for IQ. That’s a nice 1 am wake up body clock time every sim.

ER. On reserve you’ll probably get some cool charters, random Hawaii trips, maybe the occasional HND or PPT. In the summer you may draw a Europe if you’re lucky. It’s a cool fleet and even though I’m leaving after a little over a year on it (NYC) I consider myself fortunate to have flown it and to have gone to the cool places we fly it.

You have very little to lose living in base. Might as well do something cool if given the opportunity.

the boomers on the LAX ER made me want to leave that fleet desperately. Its been about 3.5 years since ive been in that plane so it may be different. Every FO says that the 73 lax captains are fairly young and chill.

this is not an anti boomer rant per say, but starting in 2016 it felt like every captain was losing their mind on every flight talking about politics (both sides). You’d be amazed how long someone will talk at you before they realize you have not said a word back. Some don’t even realize it at all lol

7ER so you can tell your future FOs how awesome it was!

I’ve been off the ER for a few years and the trips have changed, but easily the best flying I’ve done at Delta so far.

Lots of ER captains have made the jump to the 350 over the last couple years so there is a lot of new blood so to speak. I get along with almost everyone I fly with.