[ltdanimal]

Maybe we should agree that all jobs can't be compared apples to apples. I have 3 good friends that fly for major airlines. I'm pretty familiar with the jobs.

-Those tests are no joke, but saying they are more intense than a 4 year CS degree is ridiculous. Also the major airlines you can compare to FAANG, and many people study for 6+ months to pass those interviews - Airlines are union jobs. If you get them you aren't getting fired unless you try to do something really stupid. - There isn't any wondering if you are doing a good job or not , and you don't take any work home. - Regulations change or you can switch planes, but the career is leaps and bounds more static then SWE.

Net net is that they are very different jobs. SWE is a great gig overall but I take issues with people saying how much harder or easier it is than other jobs. "It depends" is the answer.

[vunderba]

Yep. OP fell into the classic trap of making generalizations across two COMPLETELY different fields despite only having knowledge in one of them. I got my PPL nearly a decade ago (obv a far cry from ATP but still) and it's ludicrous to try to compare the skill sets of computer science to piloting.

[dghlsakjg]

That's it. Piloting isn't easy, and you do have to study a lot, but it is rote memorization for the most part.

That is a completely different kind of thing than the kind of thinking that we do in programming. One isn't better or easier than the other, just different.