It took Carmen Lugo nearly two weeks to clean out her desk, pack up personal mementos, and send US Airways memorabilia and files to the airline's new headquarters in Tempe, Ariz.

Lugo tossed pictures of herself and co-workers and bosses, US Airways newsletters, and a book written on the airline's history into large boxes -- 24 years of memories working in the airline's corporate headquarters at Crystal City.

After US Airways completed its merger with America West in September and adopted Tempe as its home town, Lugo was among about 400 of 600 management and corporate executives and staff who chose not to move with the company.

US Airways, formerly known as US Air, has been based in the Washington area since 1949, when it was housed in a hangar at National Airport. In 1989, the airline moved to Crystal City, where it occupied six floors of an office building. The airline will lease its office space through April 30, and officials with the company have said it may maintain a small staff in Crystal City until then. After that, the airline will set up a small lobbying office in the Washington area. The furniture in the office suites stays because it belongs to the building's owner. Even the computers, which are leased from EDS Corp., will be left behind.

But Lugo's last day was Dec. 2.

"The final week was so hard," she said. "Most of my fellow workers had already left. There was a real skeletal staff. Just packing up was really difficult. I didn't envision the end of my career with the company like that."

Lugo started as a clerk in the airline's management information systems. Just a month after she began working for the airline, in summer 1981, the nation's air traffic controllers went on strike and US Air was forced to downsize. Everyone with less than a year of experience was furloughed. She was called back to work that winter.

Since then, Lugo had worked her way up to a management position in the airline's corporate-affairs department. She also worked through challenges to the carrier that included a string of five fatal crashes in five years in the late 1980s to mid-1990s, two stints in bankruptcy court, layoffs, pay and benefits cuts, and now the merger.

"True, I had to endure a lot of cuts in pay and benefits, but I just loved working there," Lugo said. "I loved what I did. I loved the diversity and working with all these people who I feel are my extended family."

Now, Lugo, who says she is in her fifties, has begun looking for a new job. She would prefer to work for an airline, partly because she would miss the free travel for employees that has allowed her to make frequent visits to relatives in New York and Puerto Rico. But the only airline still based in Washington is Independence Air, and it is downsizing and struggling to stay alive in Chapter 11 bankruptcy court.

Lugo says she is happy knowing that a majority of US Airways employees will be able to keep their jobs after the merger, including about 1,800 who work at the Washington area airports, and that the US Airways brand will continue.

She said she learned a lot about the airline business but also about herself and corporate America.

"I learned that I'm a dedicated person and a survivor, and I can endure almost anything. And despite the best intentions from corporations and businesses and people in business, while some business decisions are necessary, they may not always be fair. That's why family and friends are most important."