I have a hard time buying AA is cooked because of the existence of FA unions given that United FAs also have union representation.

QR is, uh, an interesting comp for AA given history of QR and FAs and the overall attitude in the ME regarding imported labor.

It's probably easier to have caviar in business class and an enhanced soft product when you can pay the workers less (because they are natives of some other country where you can take advantage of wage arbitrage and lopsided labor contracts advantaging the employer), and there isn't really anything going on beyond employer fiat on who works, when the work happens, how the work is performed. That and the whole "it's a state-owned enterprise" factor.