All very well suggesting that employers lower the bar but guess what happens then: you have considerably more applicants to choose from and your chances of success will still be slim. You gave up at 33 years old? I didn't start until I was 37 and not many years later I find myself flying a very large jet. The airlines are not charities and don't owe anybody anything. P2F is a cancer that's driving down terms and conditions across the industry but having a pop at BA is pointless since they are still (for the moment) paying for initial type rating training courses.