Can't find the link now, but I seem to recall a consensus in the past that the person who checks IDs in the security line is always an airline contractor, not a TSA employee nor contractor – because the need for the name on the ticket to match the traveler's name is more of a revenue protection measure than a security measure, and because this is often the person that enforces the first class/status distinctions, which are not under TSA's jurisdiction.

I do plan to write to AA, so we'll see if any useful information comes from the response.