American has laid off 6,500 of its Missouri employees since Dec. 31 , according to Driskill .
Since October 2001 , American has laid off 6,149 flight attendants , according to George Price , a union spokesman .
Spot gold was quoted at $ 367.90 / 368.60 an ounce at 1000 GMT , having marched up to $ 369.50 -- a level not seen since February 10 .