AA's customer service is a disaster. The agents have been beaten so badly that they will close the door with your leg in it--10 min. ahead of scheduled departure. Apparently they die a hideous death if they send a flight out late.
Being a non-rev at AA is like hailing from the Black Hole of Calcutta. The only way a crew member can be sure the non-revs get on is to walk out to the gate area 5 min before departure and make his own announcement. If there are empty seats and you are closing the door within a couple minutes of sked, you can be reasonably assured that non-revs were left behind.
And they want to be more like SWA...
TC