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The president of the pilots’ union at American Airlines blasted the CEO over a recent pay raise and accused management of failing to work with labor to fix the struggling Fort Worth-based carrier.

American’s parent, AMR Corp., disclosed in a regulatory filing last week that Chairman and Chief Executive Gerard Arpey would get a 23 percent pay raise, to $650,000 from $526,650. Arpey and several other executives also received benefits related to stock-based compensation.

That set off a reaction at the Allied Pilots Association, which is preparing for a new round of contract negotiations with American.

“Regrettably, the concept of shared sacrifice and shared reward is now dead,” union President Ralph Hunter said in a memo to pilots. “Despite their protests to the contrary, senior management abandoned ‘Pull Together/Win Together’ when they succumbed to temptation and rewarded themselves ahead of everyone else who made American Airlines’ recovery possible.”

“Pull Together/Win To-gether” is Arpey’s slogan for labor-management peace and part of his plan for turning around the nation’s largest carrier. He has included union officials in confidential briefings on the company’s financials, and a spokesman said the officials were told of Arpey’s raise before it was disclosed to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The spokesman, Roger Frizzell, said AMR’s board raised Arpey’s pay after comparing his salary to those of executives at similarly sized companies and other airlines. Arpey rejected pay raises in 2004 and 2005, although he got a 1.5 percent increase given to all employees.

“Gerard has done a very strong job for the company,” Frizzell said. “There are always going to be executive-compensation issues at any company in this day and age.”

AMR nearly fell into bankruptcy in 2003 but has returned to profitability and two weeks ago posted its best second quarter in eight years.

Employees were outraged this year to learn that about 1,000 managers would get cash bonuses - three executives were to get more than $1 million each - as a reward for a run-up in AMR’s stock price.

In protest, leaders of the flight-attendants’ union pulled out of a labor-management program to find cost-saving measures. The company’s board tried to defuse the situation by changing the bonus plan to make most of the payments in stock instead of cash.

Slowing growth has led analysts to question whether airlines are going to be able to continue to raise fares to offset higher oil prices.

The busy summer travel season is in full swing, and several U.S. airlines said this week that demand for seats on already crowded planes is still strong. But with planes at or near record capacity, fare hikes are among the few ways to cover rising costs.

Higher fares on the back of strong travel demand have given airlines pricing power in recent months, which fueled strong second-quarter results. But with the economy showing signs of slowing and travelers becoming hesitant to fly because of high prices and security concerns, the pricing power and accompanying profits could quickly evaporate.

“The problem that the airlines face is that, at some point,fares are capped” — but fuel costs aren’t, said Roger King, an analyst with CreditSights. He thinks airlines should have raised prices further in the peak summer traveling season in order to test consumer response.

While traffic is still on the rise, recent industry data show the growth rates are declining. Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) , AMR Corp.’s American Airlines (AMR) and Continental Airlines Inc. (CAL) reported slower growth, or declines, in passenger revenue in July compared with June.

The president of American Airlines pilots union said labor leaders won’t participate in any efforts to improve employee productivity until union members receive gains in salaries, benefits and job security.

Ralph Hunter, president of the Allied Pilots Association, told pilots in a letter late Thursday that the union has dropped out of a company initiative to boost productivity. He also made it clear that pilots will be unwilling to bend on work rules in upcoming contract talks unless they are rewarded with higher wages and benefits.

“If management believes this airline still needs more productive pilot work rules, they are free to make their case, after outlining how they are willing to reward that productivity,” Hunter said.

American spokeswoman Tami McLallen said the airline continues to work with union members through a program of joint labor-management committees and meetings.

“We do remain committed to working together,” she said. “The focus must remain on collaborative efforts and shared initiatives to make sure we’re competitive in the marketplace.”

She said airline executives and labor leaders had jointly lobbied Congress in support of a bill to overhaul pensions.

According to union officials, the airline has indicated that improving productivity will be a primary goal for a new contract. The current pact expires in 2008. Under a provision triggered by American executives last month, negotiations for the next contract will begin Sept. 21.

American pilots fly fewer hours than some of their competitors, in part because of work rules that govern how flights are distributed among pilots. According to a union study, American pilots flew 608 hours each, on average, in 2005. Pilots at Continental, meanwhile, flew 754 hours, while Delta pilots flew 664 hours and United pilots spent 654 hours in the air.

Last year, American launched a companywide project, called the Performance Leadership Initiative, to measure the productivity of its workers, with the goal of improving efficiency. Initially all three of the airline’s unions signed on. But early this year, the union representing flight attendants dropped out after it was disclosed that about 1,000 top managers would receive hefty bonuses based on American’s stock price.

Hunter said the pilots’ decision to drop out of the initiative as well was also based on concern about the bonuses as well as hefty raises and stock perks awarded recently to top airline executives. Last week, the airline gave Chief Executive Gerard Arpey a 23 percent raise.

“A true collaborative effort is simply not possible when management places themselves in a special class and believes they deserve special treatment,” Hunter said.

American Airlines is to end its route between Glasgow and Chicago, after 16 years of flying between the two cities.

The summer-only service to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport will end next month because of a lack of demand. Specifically, American has failed to attract many business flyers because the route does not operate year-round.

The move by American means that there are now no direct flights from Scotland to Chicago, which is an important North American hub.

However, a spokesman for Glasgow Airport operator BAA said that talks were proceeding with different airlines to provide other services to the US.

“We are disappointed at the loss of this summer service to Chicago,” he said. “However, we are in discussion with other carriers interested in operating year-round from Glasgow to major cities in the US and we are hopeful of making progress in the weeks ahead.”

Other US carriers with routes to and from Scotland include Continental, which flies from Glasgow and Edinburgh to New York, and Delta, which flies from Glasgow to Philadelphia and Orlando.