Originally Posted by kwalder

response received from AA

The crew members boarding your flight were on their way to another flight for which they were scheduled to be on duty. Their presence on board was imperative since literally hundreds of customers could be inconvenienced if their scheduled crew was not able to report on time.

Nevertheless, it is our policy to accommodate our deadheading crews in the main cabin and to upgrade them to first class only if there is space available after all the revenue passengers who desire to upgrade have been assigned seats. Our employees are never to be accommodated in first class instead of any customers nor are they to board the aircraft prior to the general boarding announcements.

Still, it does happen occasionally that a last-minute revenue customer arrives at the gate after all available space in the first class cabin has been assigned to deadheading crew members. In such circumstances, we will not jeopardize the on-time departure of the aircraft in order to make the necessary changes. We will accommodate our late-arriving customers in the cabin of their choice provided we can do so and still dispatch the aircraft on schedule.