That one experience was before AA had comped me to Platinum level (actually they had but had not told me about it yet). I was in the coach line. Even if I was not in the coach line it is still a good example of bad relative service on part of an airline.

I was bumped even with the platinum level though! I have never been bumped by UA or CO after reaching elite status even when they have had to resort to bumping and with me arriving just 20 minutes before departure (pre 9/11).

In EWR, the secondary screening is done behind the gate check-in counter and you proceed to the jetway (actually the short walkway before the extensible part of the jetway) as soon as you are done. There is nowhere else to go after the screening. Common sense would dictate that they start the secondary screening after the plane is ready for boarding. But then this was AA... :-)

Nowhere in my posts have I complained about extra security. As a FF, I want maximum security checks for self-preservation. Even this extra security by US carriers appears to be a joke and more for appearances ("can I touch you on your legs, sir?"). It is how the carriers handle the requirements (e.g., the discretionary profiling that carriers do over and above what FAA selection does) that differentiates them and in my experience cetainly puts AA in a bad light compared to UA or CO. AA's dumb profiling gives me no sense of security over UA or CO.

What is common in all of these bad experiences with AA is that there seemed to be very little individual initiative or common sense steps taken by the ground staff to make it just a little more bearable for the traveller especially when things go slightly awry or there are exceptions. This can be alleviated by hiring good staff but no airline has a monopoly on hiring good staff. It is the corporate culture and management practices that translate to this attention to detail. AA almost feels like a government-owned airline (shudder!)