Having been both an AA and a WN elite, I don't think free standby or even free SDC trumps no change fees. It's just different, and which one is better depends on your travel patterns and ability to be more speculative in your travel plans. Since I hate middle seats and (knock on wood) haven't been in one for going on 21 years and about 1500 flights now, free standby does me very little good, while free SDC is nice when I can confirm a MCE or exit row non-middle.

Conversely, when I was a WN elite, no change fees fundamentally changed how I purchased travel. I probably cancelled or changed 60% of the 250 or so flights I ticketed on WN from 2008 to 2014. About a third got cancelled outright (never took the trip), about a third got swapped to a different week as it was better logistically, and about a third got upfared to full-fare to shorten up a trip, usually coming back a day earlier.

As much as I like free SDC as an EXP, I'd trade it in an instant for no cancellation fees.