Maybe they should....that is still no excuse for not knowing in what category your aircraft is certified to operate. Our log books were marked on the covers “ETOPS.”
ETOPS is listed on the flight release as Special Equipment.
That means that it may not have even been the flight crew that messed up. It might have been as simple as the special equipment list being incorrectly registered in the database for ETOPS. That would explain how Aircraft Routing, Dispatch, Maintenance, and Flight Ops all missed the fact that that nose number was not certified.
All AA’s A321s are configured the same in systems. Even those that are not certified ETOPS must maintain ETOPS APU checks etc. It is only a paperwork differentiation.