I'm not yet an airline pilot, but here's my take. Help me out if I'm way off target!
American views Southwest over at DAL, with Wright lifted, as a big threat to its DFW business model. American is only trying to keep competition at bay, lest they lose their fortress hub behind to a sharky competitor like Southwest.
So you can understand it when they (American) commission bogus, in my opinion, studies like the one done by Egaad.