My background is in physics and later, when I couldn't stomach the academic world, IT (which is even less palatable). Both fields suffer from the same problem - reliance on "qualifications" without any real testing for aptitude. In physics, we have people who are good at kissing ass and passing tests. They fill the ranks at most schools - mediocre beyond description, incapable of making a real physical argument, no intuition. Thank them for string theory, inflation, multiverse, dark matter/energy, cosmological wanking, etc. etc. an endless list of bullsheet. In IT, we have paper qualified drones who are around just to cause trouble for the 10% who do all the real work.
So what's happening in your field is happening everywhere. You can change it by testing for aptitude. Flying is a physical skill. Being good at it requires spatial perception beyond the norm, good reflexes, situational awareness. You can test for that. No one should get a commercial license who cannot pass some fairly rigorous battery of aptitude tests - not specifics of any particular airplane or system, but something to test the ability to juggle mental factors while performing a complex physical skill.
I wish we had aptitude tests in theoretical physics and in IT. We don't, and our people suck. Join the club.