Originally Posted by USFlyerUS

I think this has more to do with AA selling upgrades than a swelling of the ranks. My non-status coworkers are all now almost always in first -- they just pay to upgrade. Friends, too. On a 738 with 16 F seats, if all but 1-2 are sold today whereas a few years ago they'd be mostly upgrades, I'm not surprised to see EPs 10+ on the upgrade waiting list.