in england , british airways blamed the fear of terrorism and the weakening economy on both sides of the atlantic when it moved to slash its transatlantic fares -- and cut 4,300 from its workforce . ; here , in the united states , the number of passengers boarding u.s domestic flights dropped from 36 million in july 1990 -- a peak travel month before iraq invaded kuwait -- to about 30.7 million in january , one of the slower travel months , according to the air transport association . ;