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Why would one think that pilots should be 'upper-class' or hold a degree?
Because it's airplanes. Not cement trucks.
Ah yes, there are 'degrees' and 'degrees'; perhaps that's why they're called 'degrees'.
Once upon a time, most British degrees comprised three to five year courses intended to qualify the holder to practise a particular profession. Other countries referred to less substantial studies as a 'degree'.
It therefore appeared that we, in the UK, were producing fewer graduates than other similar industrial nations so someone in government decided that we should also refer to lesser qualifications as 'degrees'.
Personally, I left school at the age of fifteen. When I joined the RAF, the educational requirement was 5 O-levels so I had to wait for the exam to come around to sit those; wasn't at all mind-bending. So, without a degree one could be a Royal Air Force officer and pilot and then transfer to airline flying for international majors.
Oh, yes, and I was a working class boy too - you could be in charge of a steam turbine engine room without a degree.