There's a big difference between fly-by-wire and automated flying, and an even bigger difference flying where you have three dimensions to avoid stuff instead of two, and airspace is tightly controlled, versus driving in very narrow corridors of a 2D surface that changes its coefficient of friction, has construction and detours everywhere, and drunk or distracted drivers and pedestrians alike.
Autopilot would be a lot harder to make work in airplanes if there were pedestrians at 35,000 feet, the air corridor between O'Hare and JFK had construction detours that made it hard to understand exactly where you should be driving, flying through rain made it more difficult to turn and change speeds, etc.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
