This is a serious management failure, pure and simple. In fact, multiple fails. It took too long to detect and stop the vacation scheduling problem. They (apparently) did not involve the pilots union in looking for a solution. The issue became public before a solution has been agreed. Poor management here.
The pilots did not cause this problem and they are not responsible for developing the solution. If they want more money to abandon their vacation plans, they’re certainly not any greedier than management. These are the moments when CEOs and executives earn the big bucks they’re being paid. The AA CEO makes $16M and the 5 man executive team >$40M. If they can’t deal with this problem they aren’t doing their job.
If I were a shareholder, I’d look to the executive team to 1) take responsibility, 2) assure customers their flights will stay on schedule, and 3) involve the pilots in solving the issue. All of that, today.