Weekly AA traveler out of its largest hub city here.
AA escaped bankruptcy by a tooth and is still afloat but there are teething problems.
As a routine traveler I know when an counter agent is BSing, and the quantity of BS has increased five fold. Primary reason for this is that the aircraft requires more than normal maintenance checks as they average around 14 years of life. This is a very sad state especially when the MD company was absorbed by Boeing so many years ago.
Thus you can expect delays and any delay that occurs with the flight standing right there is probably because of a maintenance issue.
That being said, AA is the largest airline in the world and is flourishing in the US sector purely because of its percentage of on-time departures. Remember folks this statistic is relative, NWA is far worse.
The stewardesses especially flying into Texas are very warm and gracious , southern charm oozing out of them, makes you feel homely. Not that much but better than most.
AA pilots are top notch and never have I had a problem with too bumpy a ride.
AA creams competition when it comes to upgrades I feel as I always get upgraded to First Class, the AAdvantage membership is pretty good.
Now the problem with AA is they take that simple minded grit and extend it to their international sectors where they are thrashed by the classier European and the more recent Middle Eastern stalwarts, Emirates and Qatar Airways.
Comon 5$ for a beer on a transatlantic flight is robbery, unethical and outright ridiculous to say the least.