INSIDE: Apple will go online with annual developers conference; stocks erase most of Thursday’s losses.
Apple goes online, Delta slashes flights
Apple said its annual developers conference would take place entirely online this year, joining a growing list of companies that are canceling big, in-person events as the coronavirus spreads.
Thousands of engineers and customers attend the Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC, which is in its 31st year.
Apple said it would give $1 million to organizations in San Jose, California, to help with the money they would lose from Apple canceling the in-person event. The event had been held in San Jose for the past few years.
Google and Facebook also canceled their flagship developers conferences in the face of coronavirus health concerns.
The virus has infected 137,000 people worldwide. Most patients have only mild or moderate symptoms, but the elderly and people with existing health conditions are particularly vulnerable. More than 5,000 have died.
Among other ways the virus is impacting businesses:
FLYING LOW >> Delta is slashing its flying by 40% to handle an unprecedented nosedive in air travel demand. It’s the largest cut in Delta’s history.
CEO Ed Bastian said the downturn in demand is unlike anything the company has ever seen, not even after the Sept. 11 attacks. He said he’s optimistic about getting help from the White House and Congress. But, he said, Delta can’t wait for Washington to act, so it is preserving cash and cutting costs.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Washington will consider aid for the airline industry. “Just as after Sept. 11, we are very committed to make sure that our U.S. airlines have the ability and have the liquidity to get through this,” Mnuchin told CNBC.
The federal government provided aid including loan guarantees to U.S. air
lines after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when the number of people flying also dropped sharply.
GETTING ONLINE >> U.S. phone and cable companies say that they won’t cut off home-internet and
cellphone service for people and small businesses that are unable to pay because of the coronavirus pandemic, which is causing workplace shutdowns and layoffs. They’ll also waive late fees and make their networks of Wi-Fi hotspots available to the public.
AT THE MOVIES >> AMC Theaters and Regal Cinemas, the country’s two largest movie theater chains,
plan to fill their theaters no more than 50%. AMC said it would begin the policy Saturday and keep it until the end of April to help facilitate social distancing. In larger auditoriums, the chain will no longer sell more than 250 tickets for a showing. Meanwhile, The Walt Disney Co. says its shutting down many of its live-action productions.