Wow, this totally sucks.

Nice going, AA. You can't possibly have thought ExpertFlyer subscribers are the same people who would subscribe directly to Sabre or whatever to get this information? Gimme a break. ExpertFlyer was not competition.

I would love to see the idiot at AA who made the decision to close off this service to post here publicly the reason for it (including addressing the point in the previous paragraph). We're all (or at least most of us!) mature, intelligent adults, and I'm sure we would be able to understand a logical, even business-motivated explanation. Sadly, I have a feeling there isn't much of one.

The only thing that I think could justify this is if ExpertFlyer was violating the Terms of Service of the GDSes they were using. Other than that, it sounds like a jerk at AA just wanting to keep the PNR comment information out of the hands of the consumers for philosophical reasons.