It is not a pain in the ass to get to if you have some extensions longer than 6 inches, and a swivel. Yeah, removing the stock air box kinda blows. The pain in the ass will be trying NOT to shear off the 8 year old, heavily rusted, studs. Trust me.....I know. Spray the studs/nuts down with PB Blaster every day until you are ready to install the pipe.
BTW. Check your motor mount right below the cat/test pipe area. If there is any purple goo on it, it's blown. It'll actually be easier to replace the mount with the cat/pipe off. If it's bad and you drive it long enough, you'll fracture the flex pipe. I've been through 2 now, but it may become a convenient excuse to get a cat-back.