By your logic, private schools discriminate because some peoples' parents are unable to afford to send them there. The legal profession discriminates because not everyone can afford to do the LPC/BVC. etc. etc.
Bit a difference though...
For a start socialists tend to believe in equality, whereas most people just believe in equality of opportunity.
No company that I know of makes an open statement of fact that they only recruit people from private schools even if in reality that is what happens.
However easyJet are known for not taking ab initio modular and pretty much only taking from two flight schools. If they did not recruit low hours at all then that would be a perfectly defensible position but they do...and only from two sources really. Entry to those schools is effectively barred to those who do not have access to property secured finance. Of course a modular flight school costs money too, so that will always be a 'barrier to entry' to an extent but not an unreasonable one because it can be paid for from a variety of different sources whereas CTC can only really be paid for one way for most people which is a way that many can't manage.
In the case of studying to be a doctor or lawyer at undergrad level there are established student loans in place that minimise the risk of unaffordable repayments should employment not be found. Even on a conversion course the costs involved are a lot less and the funding processes most established and secure. This mitigates the financial outlay and therefore the discrimination element is reduced.
Of course a degree of discrimination takes place and is indeed desirable in general as Bealzebub points out. What I am saying is that the airlines who operate the model of just taking from one or two select schools are operating a more extreme form of it than would be considered 'normal' in other industries.
I am not saying this from a point of total ignorance, my father has been a lawyer for 40 years and I have discussed this very point with him. You probably think I am mad for writing all this and of course the likelihood of anything ever changing is very low. However if for whatever reason competition law ever takes a greater interest in the employment area this practice of only recruiting through certain schools could be called into question.
Very unlikely I know but if it ever does change, you read it here first.
