Originally Posted by
megan
A little off thread, but I've always been amused by the insistence in the US to have a degree.
megan,
This has been much discussed (with a case to be made on both sides) but it all comes down to one fact of life: the airline Cubicle Farms at many of the most desirable carriers have decreed it so.
It's their party so they decide who gets invited. You can certainly find the occasional exception but it's pervasive enough to consider it The Law of the Jungle.
Even among those carriers who list it as "preferred", at this moment in history, I'd venture a guess that most of your competition
WILL have one. Competition at the legacy level is amazingly fierce. Legions of very good applicants can't get so much as the steam off the legacy airlines' yellow snow.
I've not seen any data on what percentage of otherwise qualified applicants have degrees vs not. It might be enlightening to see that data if it even exists.
If those alleging a pilot shortage are correct, many carriers may have to drop the inviolable demand for a degree; that remains to be seen.
SEATS WILL BE FILLED !!! Bet the grocery money on that one.
DL's hiring manager recently stated at a meeting with a group of affiliated pilots that DL will
NEVER drop the degree requirement. Take that for what it's worth...