prevented the USAir strike from disrupting Bermuda.

The strike is set to end on Monday after an agreement was reached between management and the machinists union yesterday, following a four day strike.

Despite only one of USAir's four flights to Bermuda being stopped by the strike, passengers had to be rescheduled onto other flights.

Mr. Phillips said: "We have been monitoring the situation daily over the last week.

"There have been no great problems. There was a creditable effort to re-route people via the gateway cities which USAir continued to serve.

"The fact that USAir still flew 75 percent of their flights to Bermuda shows that the Island is seen as a priority in their scheduling.'' About 8,000 members of the International Association of Machinists walked off their jobs all over the United States on Monday after rejecting an offer from the country's sixth biggest airline.

The settlement, still to be accepted by the rank and file members of the union, was reached after a 24 hour bargaining session, a spokesman for the National Mediation Board said.

USAir also has flights between Bermuda and Charlotte, Philadelphia and La Guardia Airport in New York.

The company has lost more than $675 million over the past two years and is relying on Government approval of a deal with British Airways to revive its long term prospects.