Just an observation from a guy 4 years removed from the hiring process. First, I think the 737 type is more of a deciding factor than a bachelors degree. Second, I don't think it's about whether SWA would view a guy without a bachelors degree (or type) as qualified. It's more about who they think is the most qualified among the thousands applying for the few training slots that periodically come up.

I'm guessing that about 98% of the guys/gals who apply meet the minimum requirements to get hired. So if everybody meets the minimums, then you have to have some other discriminators, like 737 type, bachelors degree, PIC time, instructor/check airman time, availability, etc. The more of these you have the more competitive you are against your fellow applicants.

While the type rating is not required for an interview, you do have to realize what timeline the company is working under now. No hiring pool means they will want guys who are able to start training ASAP. That will naturally drive the PD to consider all those with 737 types first. Until we start hiring in large numbers and/or reinstate the hiring pool, I don't see this changing very much. Again, just my humble opinion.