LOL, no, not even close. Lots of industrial places use copper, aluminum, PEX, and even PVC.
We seem to have a difference of opinion as to the definition of industrial.
All of the mines, mills, gas plants etc I've ever been in had main supply lines far larger than the "others" allow for. For a 6"+ main it's not only the best choice it's likely the only choice. Point is moot and was poor phrasing on my part. While it may only be in 99% of heavy industrial it's also widely used by most medium to light industrial. Food plants predominantly use SS pipe for obvious reasons.
The point I was making is that all of it's in use down sides (corrosion etc) have proven over time to be minimal for high demand users. And in my opinion non existent for a light duty or home shop. IF the system has been designed correctly in the first place. To that point, the design is fairly easy and should be the same for all material choices.
Instillation; pipe requires 2 specialized tools ( hand threader and pipe cutter). PEX and PAP only require the one? (crimper?) Copper (not legal for air in a work place here) requires 3? (torch, tubing cutter, crocus cloth?). I do very little pvc and as it ranks below rubber air line hanging from nails due to safety I'm not going to look it up.
After that it comes down to skill. If your joints leak even with C.H.Ina corp. products then you didn't use enough sealant or torque. Even dry fit at 150psi tapered pipe tightened properly will not leak. Sched 40 with taped joints and china fittings will hold 2500 psi hydraulics just fine.
PAP is flexable and according to google is often sold in a roll. Thus it requires a good eye and lots of hangers to keep it looking good. And I assume like pex there is no adjustment for fitting angles once it's crimped.
Pipe takes some time to learn how long to make the threads, and what your cut lengths will be to allow for the thread that goes into a fitting. Some prefer their pipe to be set dead level I prefer 1% grade to my low points. I also up and over for the drops off the halo to reduce the water at my frl's. The structural strength of pipe also reduces clamps needed at your drops,
In the past I haven't bothered with a heat exchanger/dryer between compressor and tank or tank to system but my tank has a remote drain (I never have any luck with auto's) and nothing I do currently would care if I had a little moisture in my air. There are several low$$$ options if you do need really dry air.
Either way you need to rent or buy some new hand tools and learn some new skills. A quick look for PEX-Al-PEX crimps are $30-40, a hand threader for pipe is $60+ and a cutter probably $10-20. If you don't have one your going to also need a good tape measure and torpedo level. But that goes for all systems.
People gravitate towards the non threaded options because they seem to be afraid of the threading process. With all the C.H.ina brand tools pushing the price of a hand threaded down to handyman levels there is no good reason not to use it except cost of the pipe. From my limited searching pipe was cheaper than PEX-Al-PEX, and the fittings were way cheaper. That could just be a canadian tax thing tho.
$$$$$ or some technical libraries keep copies. 