Originally Posted by
L'il J.Seinfeld
It's bad enough we let civilians without any formal flight training become airline pilots. Allowing civilians without degrees into the club just dumbs it down even more.
In all seriousness, having the degree just shows the desire of an applicant. Everyone knows that major airlines "highly prefer" degrees so why would a serious applicant not have one? There are exceptions that get hired, but I can only imagine their quals.
I would venture a guess that the 'In all seriousness' phrase of the second paragraph is designed to modify the first paragraph to be read as sarcasm...but it's hard to tell in the written (typed) word.