While I don't disagree that the changes have been slowly rolling out over the past few years, it seems much more dramatic to me recently. The number of Kiosks in the premium area have increased 2-3x and the number of staffed counters are about 25% what they have been previously. Specifically with regard to LAX T4.. there used to be 2 or 3 queues (If I recall- one for First/EXP/Emerald, one for Biz/Plat/Sapphire, one for Gold/Ruby) Now it's mostly kiosks w/ one combined assistance queue and only a handful of agents supporting. At least the T5 Premium Check-in, at least for the moment, is actually pretty good (the old Delta One Checkin).

In theory, I am not opposed to the Kiosk but AA's implementation is terrible. They are extremely slow, taking at least 10-15 seconds between each screen with approximately 10 screens that you need to go through (What airport are you traveling to? Do you want to buy more miles? Do you have a lap child? Do you want to change your seat? Do you conform to the exit seating requirements? Are you checking any special items? How many bags do you want to check? Do you need to reprint your boarding pass?) Then at least 10-15 seconds to print each bag tag and boarding pass. The whole process takes in excess of 3 minutes when it should take 20 seconds. If it took 20 seconds, I wouldn't have a problem with it if actually was quick/efficient... Or if AA's other IT systems worked properly and I didn't need an agent to do things like correct my companion's position on the PALL List.

And yes, as one person stated upthread, one person with an issue shuts down the entire line. That was me the other day when I had to argue with the bag drop agent at CLT that EXPs are entitled to 70lbs/bag NOT 50. It took over 5 minutes to resolve, as the agent insisted on calling over a supervisor (who also told me it was 50lbs) Only when they finally looked at my baggage allowance in sabre did they allow it. In this time 6 people were queued behind me waiting, including a very annoyed CK who tried to use the assistance line and was told to use the kiosk.