Laura Glading

Laura Glading is a labor union activist and leader. She was elected president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) in February 2008. Glading was elected to a second term in February 2012. Following American Airlines' bankruptcy and merger with US Airways, Glading was hailed as being "among this century's most important labor leaders."

Glading was an active member of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, the independent union that has represented the flight attendants at American Airlines, since the 1970s. She rose through the union hierarchy to be elected president in 2008. Glading pushed for and was appointed as one of nine members of the Unsecured Creditors’ Committee overseeing American Airlines’ bankruptcy.

Glading was an outspoken advocate in support of the American Airlines–US Airways merger and did everything in her power to make the plan a reality. She appeared alongside the Allied Pilots Association to urge approval of the planned merger over U.S. Justice Department opposition. In September 2013, Glading met with met with top antitrust officials at the U.S. Justice Department following a rally in Washington. After she helped broker the $16 billion merger deal bringing the two companies together, Glading found a way to represent the combined flight attendant group. In December 2014, the APFA reached a contract with the highest rates of pay in the airline industry.

Glading has spoken publicly on a number of issues relating to flight attendant safety and security, including a submission to the United States House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security in April 2013 where she opposed a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) initiative to permit small knives on planes. The TSA subsequently reversed its decision to allow knives on planes in June 2013.

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