Holidaying Bermudians flying US Airways have been hit by baggage hold-ups caused by bad weather and airline workers who called in sick.

Unclaimed luggage sat in long rows at US Airways' largest hub in Charlotte, North Carolina on Monday as the airline tried to deliver overdue baggage to frustrated passengers.

Bermudian Mike Holshouser is quoted by American wire agency AP as saying: "Every time I fly US Airways I say it will be the last time, but then I forget."

The report posted yesterday said an exhausted Mr Holshouser was spending the second day of his vacation in airports.

His ordeal began in Bermuda and moved on to Philadelphia, Greensboro, N.C., and then Charlotte.

"We've lost two days of our vacation, and our rental car is long gone," Holshouser said as he waited in a long line outside the US Airways Baggage Services office to see if his four suitcases had finally made it to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. "Even in the good times, they seem to have problems."

Hundreds of US Airways flights were cancelled from Friday to Sunday, the result of severe weather in other parts of the country and of hundreds of US Airways baggage handlers, ramp workers and flight attendants calling in sick.

US Airways flew baggage-only flights from Philadelphia to its hub in Charlotte on Sunday to reunite bags to customers. Still, dozens of suitcases and bags sat unclaimed in the airport's baggage-claim area Monday while passengers looked for ones that had not yet arrived.

On Sunday, US Airways cancelled 43 out of about 1,200 flights systemwide, down from 143 cancellations on Saturday and 176 on Friday. Few cancellations were listed on the monitors Monday at the Charlotte airport.

In a memo to employees, US Airways CEO Bruce Lakefield thanked those who helped "our customers during the operational meltdown we experienced over the weekend".

He also criticised those who exacerbated problems by calling in sick. Union leaders representing workers in negotiations with the airline over pay and benefits concessions denied any organised effort to slow operations.

US Airways, which is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, approved a new contract with its reservations and gate agents Thursday that slashed pay by 13 percent. The airline is seeking deals with flight attendants and machinists that it says it needs to drastically cut labour costs to survive beyond mid-January.