Originally Posted by stratofortress
AC employees might have a different arrangements. Twice now I've seen AC employees (once from AUS AC once from ORD AC) sitting in first class on flights where they have denied an upgrade to an EXP (once me, once a friend).
I flew with a DFW AC employee recently in FC. Nice lady. She happens to be AAdvantage Platinum. Prefers to buy a ticket instead of take chances with standby. The AC employees you saw might have been on a bought ticket using their own upgrades.