Union President at American Airlines Resigns

FORT WORTH, Texas—The flight attendants' union at American Airlines said its president will resign Friday.

Laura Glading told leaders of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants over the weekend that she planned to step down in December, but the union said on its website Monday that Ms. Glading moved up her resignation date.

Ms. Glading's term was scheduled to end in less than six months, and she had already indicated she wouldn't seek re-election.

In her resignation letter, which she posted on Facebook, Ms. Glading cited a potential recall election and appealed for unity within the union. Some flight attendants were unhappy with Ms. Glading over the union's agreement to a contract that didn't include profit-sharing.

Ms. Glading has been president of the American Airlines flight attendants' union since 2008. After the airline filed for bankruptcy protection and then merged with US Airways in 2013, the group became the bargaining agent for all 25,000 cabin crew members at both airlines.

Ms. Glading said the union-backed merger saved the jobs of 5,000 flight attendants and led to pay raises of 13% to 16%.

Copyright 2015 the Associated Press

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 05, 2015 21:25 ET (01:25 GMT)