As someone who 'beat the system" or "beat the odds", I have to question why the push for a degree. Since 90 something percent have degrees, how would requiring a degree help the industry? It would seem to me that the industry has done a fine job of weeding people like me out. I find that the pilots that have the biggest sense of entitlement come from the military and haven't found a job at a major yet.

My thoughts on what has "killed the industry"

1. B scale
2. Scope
3. Airlines using bankruptcy to gut union contracts
4. Whipsawing regionals
5. The "commoditization" of air travel