The "very full" announcement is not unique to American Airlines, but it drives me a little crazy.

• Boarding is the most stressful time for passengers and crew. Why add the additional stress of an unnecessary announcement?
• The tone is shaming. It is as if I had the indecency to choose the wrong flight, and I should have stayed home.
• It does not change anything. Passengers will attempt to bring on televisions, crocodiles, anvils, etc. The announcement is just an expulsion of misdirected anxiety.
• The term "very full" is a grammatical challenge.

The best thing a crew can do is to be quiet (ground crew or cabin crew.) Look for problematic luggage, help passengers find locations to stow it. Above all, maintain a calm, confident, and welcoming tone. If the crew is upset by the flight's occupancy, that is not my fault, not my problem.

It reminds me of a lousy teacher or professor who starts each lesson with, "We have a lot to cover today." I always wanted to reply, "I didn't write the syllabus or lesson plan; you did."

This is fixable.

• American is still in a "D0" obsession, and it is not working.
• There are many more junior crews. They have not yet learned how to handle the crowds. They have not seen role modelling by experts who know that a calm plane is a safe plane.
• Just about anyone who has worked at an airport or on an airplane knows that announcements are usually pointless. Nobody is listening.