Originally Posted by
ijgordon
3) CO only has SDC, but it is free for top-tier, $25 for mid-tier and $50 for all others. But you can do SDC at the 24 hour mark. Your original fare class must be available, but at T-3.5 hrs they'll generally open up all the buckets if there is space on the flight. And I think during IRROPs, they allow free standby, but I'm not sure if there are specific requirements (e.g., your flight is 2+ hrs delayed).
If AA had gone the CO route, as you report it, I wouldn't find it as bad as what AA is proposing. Sure, force more passengers to pay BUT give them something for the privilege -- give them 24 hours before the flight to call and change. Instead AA has just made a subtraction of benefits and no passenger gains anything
(except non-revs who might have a better chance of getting on a flight and GAs who will have less to do and easier time ensuring their non-rev friends get on the flights 
).
AA handled IMHO the red blanket issue much better. With the blankets, AA is removing the dirty blankets, streamlining the FAs' and the cleaners' tasks and giving passengers a chance to buy nice, clean ones at a reasonable cost.