Vector4fun, you beat me to it.....the normal app. to 26 at ABQ can seem very odd from the back, maneuvering around with the terrain close by on the right, and steeply descending onto the 3 degree path. Remember, folks, ABQ is hot and high, and you can't use 'brakes with flaps on the 80 (as I recall - I'm 777 now), so the gear would be a good idea to keep the speed under control.
Nope, nothing abnormal here....but it goes to show how nervous fliers perceptions can be different from those driving. That's why we used to explain the HKG IGS 13 to the pax before we landed...or why we brief the pax before t/o from Orange County...
There would also be an ATC report for any emergency, and diving from 20k to 2k would certainly trigger a response from ATC!!! Oh, BTW, 2k would put you into the rocks....
Any FDR recording of a parameter exceedence is locked-in at AA, and triggers an investigation if you don't put it in the book - I know a guy that was caught out by that on the 80.
We've been thru' the SWA thing before....it's just their way, nothing to it as a story. It's v. important to their modus operandi to shave time wherever they can (they can also pick-up a trip if they save flight time, my neighbour says!), and I believe they have a higher tailwind limit than we do on the 80. That's a big advantage at places like ELP, with the terminal right at one end of the field. Land towards it, depart away from it. Also, the 80 is limited to idle reverse 'cos of rudder blanking, and has a cr@ppy wing and crummy stopping performance with a high Vref to boot. A stable approach from far out is many Capt's "comfort zone" on it....and we have 300-odd of them, so it's the AA a/c most ATC folks deal with domestically. Just my opinions....