Michael Fanfalone, 57; Helped Start Union for FAA, Defense Workers

Michael Fanfalone, 57, a longtime union leader who negotiated to improve working conditions for employees of the Federal Aviation Administration, died June 27 at a Baltimore hospital from complications of Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammation of the digestive tract.

Fanfalone was a founder of the Professional Airways Systems Specialists, which represents more than 11,000 systems specialists, flight inspection pilots and aviation safety inspectors employed by the FAA and the Department of Defense. He served as national president of the organization for two three-year terms starting in 1997.

The grandson of union men, he was born in Detroit and attended Detroit Technical Institute. After serving in the Air Force, he began working with the FAA in 1975 as a radar specialist.