I wonder if this means the first class sales aren't all they're reported to be, or if they're just not able to adequately reward their elites. With 12 or 16 seats in the current FC configuration, AS obviously doesn't have enough "premium" seats to meet the upgrade demand from their elites, particularily on the transcons. The 3-3 with the middle seat vacant sounds better for the transcons than getting stuck on the 3 side in a middle seat. But for west coast travel, the 2-3 option is oviously better. Once again, AS finds itself challenged by having 2 airlines (transcon and west coast) with disparate needs. The bean counters have obviously been busy.
I am going to make sure I requalify for AA platinum this year before I try to get the 50K bonus for hitting 75K miles. Time to keep all options open given the uncertainty at AAG.