^^^ This makes sense to me.

Last year, before the vaccines were a done deal, AA appeared to be in a more precarious position that the others. If it got to the point where the fed felt that they had to let one airline go BK (or fail), AA was the obvious candidate just based on short-term finances.

But the fed has consistently backed-stopped the airlines' finances (both administrations) and the recovery looks like it's happening now. DC never lost sight of the fact that a severely damaged airline industry would take years to recover, and would drag down the rest of the economic recovery in the meantime... not just us but plenty of businesses and jobs rely on air travel directly or indirectly. And the really cunning politicians know they need an economy to tax, or they're out of business and out of office.