I do not believe that to be “standard” any more. Most U.S. airlines of which I am aware swap each leg, unless you are talking long haul/augmented crews or special/really bad weather situations. Normal operating practice in lieu of those two events is for the F/O to fly every other leg.

AA does seem to be in the middle of a bad run right now. Kind of ironic considering the somewhat extreme salary demands their pilots have been making for the last year or two….perhaps they have taken their eye off the ball?

Yeah, I think that they should tread lightly with their salary demands (no good sinking your own ship, huh?), as for the accidents, I suppose it is best to wait and see what the review comes up with. 🙂