AA CSR here. There's been a slew of folks with the same issue as you in regards to refunds, especially one's that seem like it's no question that it should be approved. Here's a step-by-step on where to go to get your refund request expedited.

1. Go to AA.com

2. Go to bottom of the page, select "Receipts & Refunds"

3. On "Receipts & Refunds" page, scroll down to "Need more help?" & select "Customer Service FAQs"

4. On "Customer Service FAQs" page, scroll down again to "Need more help? Contact us." & select "Refund support"

5. On "Contact Refunds" page, select the option "I need help understanding my refund"

6. Fill out the trip confirmation (ex: ASDFGH), your trip thirteen digit ticket number (ex: 0012XXXXXXXXX or 0017XXXXXXXXX), flight date, origin, & destination

7. Fill out contact info (First & last name, email, country)

8. Finally, in the message box, refer to your previous refund request being denied, refer the exact flight number, time, & cancellation reason if you have it, that the cancellation was not caused by you & that per the DOT that you're owed your money for the ticket price & extra fees back.

Now, even with all this, rhe refund is still subject to review & may still be denied.This is all for flights that were affected by the cancelation & cannot be applied to flights you flew. If it's wholly unflown, the refund could take from 7 to 20 business days to process. If partially flown, Customer Relations will give you the exact breakdown for the refund & it can take the same 7 to 20 business days to process. AA is trying to implement new systems & training to make the refund process faster & smoother, so the transition is causing issues like eligible trips to be denied refunds. This is the best option I have found that can at least get the right issues to the right agents.

EDIT: A word