Understanding that the new 787 is made of a composite material, I can understand why AA would want to standardize the fleet. That said, I thought I had read several years ago that the reason AA didn't do a full paint job on their aircraft was for weight reasons. By not painting their aircraft, they saved several hundreds of pounds, thus saving fuel. If this is true, I don't see them pulling the older aircraft off line just to paint them.
I am just hopeful this has nothing to do with the US talks.