I was in the same position last week when my PHX-ORD became PHX-DFW-ORD due to weather in ORD. I saw myself as number 28 on the standby list for an earlier flight, and asked the GA why I was so far down. He stated that during irregular ops, EXP status is meaningless, and all passengers are given the same status. OK--not used to that but it was a busy day.

Not believing him, I checked at the AC and asked the same question. I was given the same story, along with the explanation that AA was aware of the problem and was working on a fix that would allow status to be recognized during these situations.

So if this is true--and I'm still not sure--status may not help if the combined WX situation at DFW and ORD is at issue.