So when you say it, it's ok. But when I do it's me being the barometer on all things higher education?

Well, if you read my post I never compared. Your comparing apples to oranges. However, an art degree can still be extraordinarily difficult. Labeling every one as 'easy' is simply not true.

I know a guy with a Ph.D in physics from Cal-tech and a Masters in Math from Cornell no less; and I wouldn't trust him with the keys to my car, much less a passenger jet.

IQ and education don't equal good pilot. It just doesn't hurt if you have decent grades and went to a decent school.

GPA is just another way to narrow down applicants. Yup you don't need a degree or a high GPA to be a pilot but companies can set whatever requirements they feel like and when there are 1000 applications for only 200 positions they need to whittle the pile down some how.

Would you take someone who is "book smart" and a 4.0 GPA and 4 or 5 check ride failure?
To me book smart doesn't mean anything.

Look back to the example of 1000 applicants for only 200 positions. The airline can mandate that applicants have a certain GPA, and suddenly they weed out 150 people. Then the airline can weed out people with multiple checkride failures, that might take another 150 people out of the running. Now they are down 300 applicants by only having to look at two numbers.

A 4.0 GPA doesn't make someone a good pilot, just as 3, 4 or 5 checkride failures doesn't necessarily mean that a pilot is bad. Its not fair. But they are both numbers that airlines can set arbitrary standards and weed out a bunch of applicants easily. Airlines aren't the only employers that make these kinds of requirements.

Who is talking about a 4.0? They are asking for a 2.5 and a ballpark of 4 yrs to graduate. This is far from requiring a 4.0 or an all star kiss ass. They want someone who will be mature enough and smart enough to deal with the BS entailed with this job. If a guy takes 5 yrs to earn < 2.0 undergrad then something is not right.

Ya, I agree with you. I think farther down in this thread I said that if all things being equal, I would hire the one with the higher GPA. Of course no two applicants are ever exactly equal and some subjective decision by that one person has to be made. I