Degrees or not degrees
As someone who is at the same early stage as Steve, having considered very carefully the transition from private flying to a commercial career and associated training, I've found Pilot Pete's posting very helpful in setting out the reality of the market and the key issues. I've also had a look back on pprune and read his own personal story, which is both inspirational and a hard reality check on the sort of uncertainties which might lie ahead for those of us starting out as pilots. Professionalism and dedication against all the odds seem to be the critical success factors.
Sadly my post isn't based on very much direct contact with airlines, largely indirect from many and various conversations including FTOs. However I did engage in some conversation along with others (mostly but not exclusively students approaching graduation) at the recent flyer exhibition at Heathrow. The flight crew selection guy who spoke from BA, and the young lady from the FTO (Fogbound) recognised the (generalist) benefits of doing a degree, whilst also recognising that it was not a prerequisite qualification and that many pilots do not have degrees (other than their groundschool / ATPLs of course). That is why I added that it was very possible to get employment as a younger pilot without a degree .. and I would expect their chances of employment to driven by many of the same factors as everyone else's as PP says .. contacts, experience (hours, types), performance during training and as a person (including how you come across during interview and assessment of flying ability and CRM skills).
So, yes, my limited perspective to date (all I have to go on, I have no inside contacts of my own) seems to line up with PP's comments fairly well. Neither the Airlines or the FTOs (to my knowledge) will come out and say formally that a degree will in any way enhance your employability or ability as a pilot, but they certainly seem to respond favourably to the idea when pressed. It is not an issue which bothers me nor something I have persued personally .. I have two of the darned things and whilst they have been both interesting, rewarding, useful (and I would like to think relevent) I recognise that I too "need" to be a pilot (I can identify with that) and I'm starting out again in what is clearly one of the most exacting, demanding and ruthless of industries.
For what it is worth Steve I have made my decision and I am now pulling out all the stops to get to Jerez for this month's course. They have been very straight with me and have reinforced the position that whilst there are some signs of life / green shoots (these aren't direct quotes, just my own summary interpretation again) out there, it is not possible to predict the demand or otherwise for new pilots when I complete the course and any recommendations they make are based on consistently high performance in groundschool exams, flight tests and flight assessments.
Recognising that this is a highly cyclical industry, I do take some comfort in the longer term projections for growth in aviation, and hope that political and economic factors don't disrupt such forecasts too much. I'm hoping the forthcoming UK Aviation White paper will be a good read.
Cheers, and best of luck with whatever you decide to do
Richard