In 2007, during a period of financial instability for the airline, American Airlines assigned a "revenue integrity unit" to investigate AAirpass holders. The airline's investigators concluded that two AAirpass holders, Steven Rothstein and Jacques Vroom, were costing the airline more than $1 million annually. The airline points to accumulation of
air miles for flights which they received for free under the AAirpass, allowing some passengers to accumulate tens of millions of miles as well as taxes and airport fees paid for by the airline. The program has been called "a huge disaster" for the company. The two AAirpass holders including their companion passes were terminated from the program when the airline accused them of fraudulent activity.
Pass terminations Steven Rothstein, a financier from Chicago, upgraded to a lifetime AAirpass for $233,509.93 on October 1, 1987, after a discount of $16,490.07 for the value of mileage on a previous AAirpass. On December 13, 2008, Rothstein checked in at Chicago
O'Hare International Airport with a friend for a flight to Bosnia. A letter from the airline was hand-delivered to him at the airport informing him that the pass had been terminated due to fraudulent behavior, specifically his history of approaching passengers at the gate and offering them travel on his companion seat and for using the companion program to purchase an adjacent empty seat under a fake name to keep them vacant, which was often used for privacy or extra carry-on luggage. Rothstein sued American Airlines in the
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, arguing that "American waived its rights to enforce the contract by not cracking down on Rothstein sooner" according to District Court Judge
Virginia Mary Kendall who denied Rothstein's motion in 2011. Litigation was delayed due to the airline's filing for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Jacques E. Vroom Jr., a Dallas-based marketing executive, paid $356,000 for his unlimited AAirpass and companion pass A letter was hand-delivered to Vroom by airline security personnel on July 30, 2008, during check-in at London
Heathrow Airport informing him that his passes had been terminated for fraudulent activity. The airline sued Vroom in 2011, accusing him of selling his companion seat, a violation of the American Airlines 1994 Tariff Rule 744. Vroom countersued, arguing that the rule went into effect after purchase of the lifetime pass and accusing the airline of
slander; American Airlines then filed for bankruptcy and, as of late 2024, the claims have not been resolved. == References ==