BuSINESS

D WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020:: LATIMES.COM/BUSINESS

C

DOW21,237.38▲1,048.86S&P5002,529.19 143.06▲▲NASDAQ7,334.78 430.19 GOLD$1,524.90 39.00▲ OIL$26.95 1.75▼▼EURO$1.1000 .0168 U.S. T-NOTE(10-yr.) .99% 0.27▲

More time for

tax payments

The U.S., citing the

coronavirus’ effects on

the economy, extends

the tax payment

deadline by 90 days. C2

Fox to acquire

streamer Tubi

The $440-million deal

will help Fox expand

its audience and

attract more

advertising dollars. C2

Amazon shifts

focus amid virus

The online retailer’s

priority will be

stocking essential

products such as

medical supplies. C3

Stocks recover

half of big loss

Indexes rally as

President Trump says

he’s “going big” with

plans to prop up the

economy. C3

Staggered by the co-

ronavirus outbreak, the

lodging industry requested

$150 billion in aid from the

Trump administration

Tuesday as Marriott Inter-

national announced plans to

furlough tens of thousands

of workers.

After a White House

meeting with President

Trump and Vice President

Mike Pence, hotel industry

leaders said the virus out-

break is on pace to cause a

bigger economic hit than the

2001 terrorist strikes and the

2008-09 recession combined.

In addition to the $150 bil-

lion requested by the hotel

industry, other sectors of the

travel industry — such as

convention centers, theme

parks and tour companies —

have requested $100 billion

in funding to overcome the

crisis, said Roger Dow, presi-

dent of the U.S. Travel Assn.,

the trade group for the coun-

try’s travel industry.

That is on top of the

$58 billion in aid requested

Monday by the airline indus-

try to overcome a surge in

flight cancellations amid

new travel restrictions.

Without federal aid to the

travel and lodging indus-

tries, the U.S. could lose as

many as 4 million jobs in

2020, pushing the unemploy-

ment rate from 3.3% to 6.3%

across the country, Dow

said.

Hotel occupancy rates

were around 80% a few

weeks ago but are now 10% to

20% in the busiest cities of

the country, Chip Rogers,

president of the American

Hotel & Lodging Assn., said

in a conference call with re-

porters.

The federal aid, he said,

has been requested in the

form of grants to keep work-

ers employed until the crisis

subsides. Details about how

the money would be dis-

bursed had yet to be de-

cided, Rogers said.

“The need is immediate,”

said Jon Bortz, chief execu-

tive of Pebblebrook Hotel

Trust, which owns 54 hotels

with 8,000 employees. “Folks

are being furloughed and

laid off every day.”

Bortz said his hotels have

already laid off 4,000 workers

and by the end of the month

may need to let go of an addi-

tional 2,000 employees.

“We are looking at closing

our doors at more than half

of our properties,” he said.

Marrriott, the world’s

largest hotel company, with

30 hotel brands and more

than 7,000 properties world-

wide, confirmed reports

that it will be forced by a

surge in cancellations to ei-

ther cut back work hours or

furlough a large portion of its

workforce. Marriott Interna-

tional had 174,000 employees

Hotels seek

$150 billion

in U.S. aid

Industry officials say

the virus is worse than

9/11, ’08 recession put

together. Marriott will

furlough thousands.

By Hugo Martín

[SeeHotels,C3]

It’s probable

that not

even the

atomic clock

has the

ability to

keep up with

the speed

with which

major

American corporations

extended their hands for

government bailouts in the

novel coronavirus crisis.

So far, we’ve heard from

the airline, hotel, casino and

cruise ship industries, all of

which assert that they’re

facing immense losses and

even bankruptcy as the

lockdown of American and

international economies

take hold.

Surely there will be more,

since the Trump adminis-

tration has been signaling

its willingness to listen.

“We’re going to back the

airlines 100%,” President

Trump said Monday. “We’re

going to be in a position to

help the airlines very much.”

The nature of that help

isn’t yet clear, though the

airline industry has asked

for $60 billion in help, in-

cluding $25 billion in direct

grants plus loan guarantees

and tax rebates and repeals.

The list is already grow-

ing, ranging from aviation,

which could make a case, to

retailers, who have asked to

an immediate lifting of

tariffs on Chinese goods, to

you-gotta-be-kidding-me

appeals from consumer

goods companies selling

food, personal care, hygiene,

cleaning and disinfecting

products, which in fact have

been flying off the shelves.

The Consumer Brands

Assn., which includes Proc-

ter & Gamble, Colgate-

Palmolive and General Mills

among its leading members,

asked Trump this weekend

for emergency funds to

“mitigate supply chain

disruptions,” which sounds

like they can’t make and

ship product fast enough to

keep supermarkets stocked.

If ever there’s a problem an

industry should be happy to

have, that’s it.

It’s fair to say that some

industries might indeed

need government assist-

ance to get over the emerg-

ing economic slump. The

question is, what does the

Bailouts of big

business need

strings attached

MICHAEL HILTZIK

[SeeHiltzik,C4]

Southern California gym
chains, boutique fitness
spots and personal trainers
are scrambling to find alter-
native ways to sweat as their
facilities are forced to close
because of the coronavirus
outbreak.
Some gym operators are
taking their classes to the in-
ternet, and trainers are hus-
tling to arrange travel times

and new schedules to ac-

commodate home visits or

small outdoor classes.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric

Garcetti on Sunday night

announced the shutdown of

gyms, bars, nightclubs, en-

tertainment venues and

dine-in restaurant service

through March 31 to help

slow the spread of the co-

ronavirus, a step taken in

New York and several other

cities around the nation. Los

Angeles County supervisors

issued a similar order Mon-

day for the 88 cities under

their jurisdiction, and Gov.

Gavin Newsom asked all

such businesses across Cali-

fornia to close, and in the

case of restaurants to switch

to takeout only. Some fit-

ness chains are closing gyms

even in cities that haven’t yet

ordered them.

Harvey Spevak, execu-

tive chairman and manag-

ing partner for Equinox

GOLD’S GYMin Venice is closed because of the pandemic. Some fitness chains
and small gyms are offering classes — some of them free — online instead.

Ronald D. WhiteLos Angeles Times

Gyms work out options:

online, home training

By Ronald D. White

[SeeFitness,C4]

For the last six years, Jamie Slone and his wife,
Kym, have run a boutique Santa Barbara winery
that sells about 1,200 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon,
Pinot Noir and other varieties each year.
The operation, called Jamie Slone Wines, relies
heavily on its downtown Santa Barbara tasting
room, which accounts for 95% of the business’ an-
nual revenue. But on Monday, a day after Gov. Gav-
in Newsom advised bars and wineries to shutter
amid the coronavirus outbreak, a rattled Slone
closed his tasting room.
“It doesn’t take long to do the math to see how
this can be devastating,” he said.
Amid the widening pandemic, Newsom’
directive, which was announced at a Sunday news
conference, stopped short of a mandate. But it
seemed to have the effect of one.
Across the state, wineries heeded Newsom’s ad-
visory, shuttering their tasting rooms and cancel-
ing tours on Monday.
Although production will continue — at this
time of year, vines are pruned and some wines are
bottled — the effects of the advisory will be a blow to
the economy in California,

A VINEYARDin Napa Valley. Across California, wineries are heeding Gov. Gavin Newsom’s directive this
week to close their tasting rooms and cancel tours in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Robert DurellFor The Times

Wineries reel after

shutting their doors

Governor’s directive will hit smaller producers harder

“THISis an insane time,” says a co-owner of San Antonio

Winery in L.A., shown in 2018. It has suspended tastings.

Al SeibLos Angeles Times

By Daniel Miller and Patricia Escárcega

[SeeWineries,C5]

Tesla’s Fremont, Calif.,

factory was up and running

at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday despite

the “shelter in place”

lockdown issued by Alame-

da County and several other

Bay Area counties the day

before.

Workers leaving after the

night shift said the automo-

bile plant was churning out

cars as usual — the Model 3,

the Model X, the Model S

and the newest Model Y. The

parking lot was packed to

capacity with about 3,000

cars, as dozens of morning-

shift workers searched for

overlooked spaces. Workers

even parked in fire lanes.

Dozens of shuttles and

full-size buses ferried morn-

ing workers to the factory

and took night-shift workers

away. Departing workers

packed shoulder to shoulder

Tesla

factory

rolls on,

for now

Amid lockdown, Bay

Area officials say it’s

not essential business.

By Russ Mitchell

[SeeTesla,C3]