U.S. airlines carried 51% fewer passengers in March amid the massive coronavirus pandemic travel collapse to the lowest air travel level in nearly two decades, the U.S. Transportation Department said Tuesday. Airlines carried slightly more total, domestic and international passengers in March 2020 than in September 2001, the month of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. In total, airlines carried 38.7 million passengers in March, down 51% from March 2019. Prior to March, air travel had risen for 29 consecutive months year-over-year dating back to October 2017. Since then, U.S. air travel has fallen further, down about 94%, while total flights are down by about 70%. In April, the U.S. Treasury approved $25 billion in cash grants to airlines in exchange for a ban on paying dividends, stock buybacks, limits on executive compensation and a bar on laying off employees through Sept. 30. […]