You're right about the barriers being there. But look at the bright side: If you befriend a few pilots everywhere you go odds are you'll meet one of these 'ins' one day. It is a small world in aviation.

Like a dog licking itself, airline recruiting offices do what they do because they can. It is just another way of weeding out the thousands of applications they get.

4 year college degrees are still a must, I'd suggest, unless you've got lots of charm and some great heavy jet time to make up for it. Yeah, about 5% don't, but they face a much larger uphill than those who do.