Good question. What I said would apply to the 88 or 738. Not so much on the 7ER. Kinda hard to break up a three day, two leg trip to Europe!

It's tough to have a broken trip on the ER. They generally fly as published, and the Crew Tracking (reroute) people have very little opportunity to mess with you.

Sounds like I should go for ER if it is available, and if I don't like it switch to the MD-88. Is that what I am hearing?

That's not a bad plan. The negative as a new guy is the lack of actual flying. It'll take some time to get comfortable in the AC.

As far as favorite trips goes, the nice thing about international flying is many pilots have their favorites so one guy's pleasure is another's pain.

When I could hold a regular line I bid days off with max time per trip. I liked Moscow so 80+ hours and 12 days work per month. I'm on reserve now so things are different. So far 2-4 days short call and two trips per month flying England, Ireland and Ghana mostly. I get most of the other cities occasionally.

Are new hires going to the ER being treated as "in flight relief ONLY" pilots, or are they getting an equal share of flight time/takeoffs/landings?

I understand that they may not get the required number of quarter/monthly landings due to the nature of the flying, but as far as dividing up the t/o's, landings and flight time on a trip how's that working out?

Generally, the captain takes one leg, and the other leg goes to whoever needs a landing. Actual seat time is divided pretty evenly. If you're junior, you'll get plenty of landings by virtue of flying to Ireland and the UK as part of a two-pilot crew.

What can I expect as a new hire FO on the 7ER? How many days on short and long reserve, how many days flying, and how many days gone from home total?

How long should I expect to be on 7ER reserve? I hear a year or longer?

For someone who is commuting from D.C. is it better to be on reserve on the 7ER for a year, or hold a line on the MD-88?

In the 7ER , how long is the break between initial 2 weeks of indoc training and the simulators? 2 weeks? A month?

Thanks!

Is it about the same for the ATL ER guys?

Quick gouge...Ate dinner with GuardDude tonight (Malone's) and his buddy is 50ish out of 100ish on the 88 out of NYC and has only been with the company 6ish months. Read: seniority comes faster on the 88 outta NYC.

7ER is going to new hires but there are still enough guys in front of you to be on reserve for awhile (>2years...??).

Hold a line 88 = pick your lines (sometimes), establish a regular schedule (more predictable and <18 days ... normal reserve line)
versus reserve 7ER = can work the system to get airborne off short call on a "green slip" and fly <18 days a month, but it is unpredictable (compared to holding a line). You can't say either is better. It's just a difference between what you want to put up with right now to get to what you want later.

Remember, as long as there are bids (for awhile now) you will always be able to go back to the 88 NYC, but there's no guarantee that you'll be able to go back to the 7ER.

Previous classes had as much as 5 weeks off between indoc and training. Our class has a couple starting 15 Oct (we finish indoc 12 Oct), and the rest in the 76/75 NLT 29 October (2 weeks). The 88 guys are starting training as late as mid-November, but they'll be done and on the line before we are. 7ER training includes 76/75 OE, a type rating ride and then the international stuff in the 7ER to complete TOE. That is, longer training.

Bottom line, enjoy whatever you get now. 10 years from now you'll look back and wonder what you even worried about.