I don't understand how these 52 trips could have happened. They must have been one-way, since it is my understanding that AA automatically cancels return sides of trips where segments are missed on the outbound. Occasionally, I have the scenario where there are problems with connecting flights and I need to skip segments (e.g. STL-LAX-SAN with the last flight of the day from LAX to SAN cancels and I rent a car at LAX to drive to SAN). The first thing I do in cases like that is go the Admirals Club or call AA to get the reservation changed so that my return flights (e.g. SAN-LAX-STL) are protected. I don't think anyone should ever skip a segment on the outbound and assume the return reservation will still be intact. I've never had AA deny a request to skip a segment when the problem originated with AA or a partner carrier. I may be wrong, but my assumption is that if I didn't communicate with AA in these situations, I would have dealt with a lot of cancelled reservations over the years.