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Possible Airways Strike Affects Spring Breakers

Agreement must be reached by Saturday

Some Harvard students planning to fly to sunny destinations for spring break might have to make other travel plans if an airline strike proceeds this weekend.

US Airways has threatened to suspend service if its flight attendants strike, a likely scenario if the two parties cannot reach a labor agreement by 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning.

The airline, the sixth largest in the nation, and its flight attendants have been negotiating since Friday to settle a three-year long contract dispute.

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If the carrier does shut down service, it will leave student spring break travel plans in jeopardy.

"I had a ticket for Saturday morning, but that's when the strike is, so I tried to switch to a flight earlier in the week," said Taylor R. Terry '03, who needs to get home to Fort Meyers, Fla. "All the flights were totally booked for any time this week."

Instead, Terry has opted to leave two days earlier by taking a shuttle to JFK International Airport and then transferring to a start-up airline, which will fly him to Tampa. The drive from Tampa to Terry's hometown is two and a half hours.

"Basically, it will take me twelve hours to do what's normally a five-hour trip," he said.

Michael J. Rest '00 was planning to fly to Florida next Tuesday with his three other roommates. He called US Airways and spoke to a representative, who informed him that he could cancel his tickets and receive a full refund or simply take a gamble that the airline would fly.

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