I hate to keep comparing AA to Delta but this one area where Delta is wayyyyyy ahead of AA. Case and point: two weeks ago I flew DL outbound MCI-ATL-ORF and returned on American ORF-CLT-MCI. Both airlines had delays on their respective segments but DL agents seemed empowered to make decisions in order to help the customer. With AA, all I got was "I can't, they won't allow me, it's not possible". The willingness and ability to help a customer on the AA side, just seems very limited these days.