I don't think anyone in Europe will require a college degree. However, it has its uses, not the degree itself, but the requirement to learn to think in a specific way, learn to ask questions and research and learn on your own is actually not a bad thing to have. Not everybody needs to get a degree for that, but it has a proven record to get through that process.
Thats how you protect an industry. The next generation isn’t cut loose whatsoever. Compare the average SWA FO salary to a Ryr FO salary.
Apples and oranges. One country vs. 30 or so, each with its own sets of labor laws, hard to unionize due to constant movement across borders, unions do not have a leg to stand on in some of those countries. And of course a drastically different management style.