I’ve been in aviation for 50 years, thru hiring booms and busts, and the degree requirement for the best jobs, airline and corporate, has never seriously been changed. It was a requirement for “legacies” (the only type then) in the last desparatd “pilot shortage” in the 60s. Don’t believe all the hoorah about “this time is different”, either. Every prior boom at the peak had the same chorus.

Yes, a vanishingly small number get hired at the Big 6 without one, but everyone probably has a story you can’t duplicate. The AA WO flow is the only guaranteed track now. Why limit your options by not having the degree?

GF