You asked about how the current problems at AA may affect your future travel.

As a pilot not affiliated with AA, I truly wish I could give you an answer. All I can tell you for sure is that NO ONE will fly an aircraft that is less than 100% legal and safe to fly. Just a quick overview on a misunderstood process. If an item on an aircraft is written up in the maintenance logbook by a flight crewmember, there’s something wrong with it. Even if the problem seems small (such as a missing sticker/placard), it’s black and white in our world:
The item is either
A)Legal for dispatch
or
B)Must be repaired/deferred in some way.

There are no ‘minor’ problems as far as the FAA is concerned. The aircraft is either legal or not. The so-called ‘motivation’ for writing up discrepancies (the company‘s 'angry pilots' argument), IMO, is irrelevant. I know of no airline that would not crack down harshly on false maintenance write-ups. A knowingly false write-up would involve the falsification of a legal document, the aircraft’s log book. Crews will not jeopardize their licenses to ‘get back’ at the company. It’s not worth it, even though the media/company would never admit it.

The media started circulating that increasing numbers of maintenance cancellations and delays were a result of unhappy pilots. This appears to be corroborated by massive increases in delays/cancellations since the APA contract was abrogated. Never mind that several of these days experienced severe weather on the East Coast, causing cascading problems throughout the AA system. Never mind that the AA pilot group has been telling management they are understaffed for months. Easier to take the media’s line and run with it. Then, to further add, send communication to frequent flyers emphasizing this.

The current situation at AA is another unfortunate example of institutional failure blamed on the employee, as well as the time-tested airline tradition of pitting labor groups inside the company against one another. nwaf16dude's post earlier contains a great example of this.

I know this wasn’t the answer you were looking for, but just trying to provide a summary of what I see. Just my opinion. Not trying to speak for any group. Best of luck with your travels.

AA folks, I’ll withdraw from this topic if you feel I’m speaking out of line.