I understand that, and I understand that what EF is displaying accurately reflects what's available to non-AA sources.

My point was that - like any other GDS system - EF does not necessarily reflect the reality of the inventory that the airline itself has.

For example, UA will not make some inventory available to other airlines for IROPS, but it will sell the inventory either through it's website or in person (even to the point of overbooking if the revenue is high enough). Or UA's blocking of starnet.

Guess it comes down to the term "reliable". For the data available to it, EF is reliable. But it is not "reliable" in terms of what the airline will do internally for it's own purposes.

I'm not smacking on EF here - I use it and find it valuable. It - like any other GDS service - simply doesn't reflect everything available internally to the airline.