Call any qualification just what you like. What does it matter? It is what is required to do the job. Whether ATPL to fly the airplane, or MBChB MMed FCS to wield the knife upon diseased flesh, or BA LLB to technically get a guilty bastard off the hook, each field to its own. ATPL is just as much a hard worked-for qualification than any bum-and-elbow bruising university degree. The margin for error and digress from exacting standard procedure is just far less forgiving than for the philosophical ramblings that may swing a juror's opinion in a courtroom. In my book, ATPL is way up there with the other higher qualifications.
By the way, "licence" is a noun, "license" is a verb. Simple.
