I commute that route and can attest to its difficulty. I never rely on American flights because they are always oversold. Many American mainline pilots commute as well. United has about 3x the amount of commuters, and you can never count on riding up front as there will always be a mainline pilot commuting. Northwest is a slight refuge from both, but its where many regional and junior United pilots go to try and tie up the offline jumpseat.
Forget Eagle. Go to Mesaba.