The Wall Street Journal - 12.03.2020

B2| Thursday, March 12, 2020 ** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

INDEX TO BUSINESSES

These indexes cite notable references to most parent companies and businesspeople
in today’s edition. Articles on regional page inserts aren’t cited in these indexes.

A
Air Canada..................B2
Airbus..........................B2
Alaska Air Group........B2
Amazon.com.....B1,B4,R6
American Airlines Group
...................................B12
App Annie...................B4
Apple...........................B4
AT&T............................B4
Axel Springer..............B4
B
Balfour Beatty............B5
Bank of America.......B11
BlackRock..................B11
Blackstone Group.......B4
Boeing.........................B1
Booking Holdings......B12
ByteDance...................B4
C
Carnival.....................B12
Citigroup....................B11
City Football Group....R8
Comcast.......................B4
Credit Suisse Group.B11
D
Dodge & Cox.............B11
Dongfeng Motor.......B10
E

eBay.............................B4
Elevate Credit...........B10
Elliott Management...B4
EssilorLuxottica........B10

Expedia Group...........B12

F

FHN Financial...........B11

Fiat Chrysler

Automobiles...........B10

FinWise Bank............B10

G

General Motors.........B10

H

Hoffman ConstructionB5

Honda Motor.............B11

H&R Block...................A6

J-K

JetBlue........................B2

KKM Financial...........B11

L

LVMH.........................B10

M

MGM Holdings............B4

N

Naspers.......................B4

Neiman Marcus Group

.....................................B3

Netflix.........................B1

Nissan Motor............B10

Nordstrom...................B3

NortonLifeLock...........B4

Norwegian Cruise Line

Holdings..................B12

O-P

Oman Air.....................B2

Opportunity Financial

...................................B10

PepsiCo........................B1

Peugeot.....................B10

Pirelli.........................B10

Pixar............................B4

Prada.........................B10

Prudential..................B12

R

Red Bull.......................B1

Redfin..........................A5

Rockstar Energy

Beverages.................B1

Royal Caribbean Cruises

...................................B12

S

SAIC Motor...............B10

Sony.............................B4

Southwest Airlines....B2

Spirit Airlines.............B2

Starboard Value..........B4

Starbucks....................B2

State Street..............B11

T

Tencent........................R6

TripAdvisor................B12

U

United Airlines....B2,B12

W

Walt Disney...........B3,B4

Women's National

Basketball Association

.....................................R2

INDEX TO PEOPLE

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Airlines are doing every-

thing they can to get people to

fly.

They’re making hygiene

part of the pitch, touting hos-

pital-grade antibacterial solu-

tions, “fogging” procedures

that mist every surface with

disinfectant and cabin air fil-

ters. They’ve waived fees to

change flights. Some are slash-

ing prices, hoping to entice

bargain hunters.

Finding a solution is an ur-

gent but elusive goal for airline

executives as the rapid global

spread of the new coronavi-

rus—declared a pandemic

Wednesday by the World Health

Organization—has caused travel

demand to seize up.

United Airlines Holdings

Inc. said Tuesday that net

bookings—which include can-

cellations—have fallen 70%

within the U.S., and 100% to

Asia and Europe. Airlines are

shrinking capacity, freezing

hiring and asking employees

to take voluntary unpaid leave

as they try to conserve cash.

And on Wednesday night,

President Trump announced

he was suspending much of air

travel from Europe to the U.S.

Airline CEOs have also writ-

ten entreaties to customers in

recent days, detailing stepped-

up cleaning procedures. In one

such message Monday,South-

west AirlinesCo. Chief Execu-

tive Gary Kelly described the

six- to seven-hour scrub-

downs plane interiors receive

each night. Airlines have

posted videos of the process

on their websites.

Industry officials have

urged the Trump administra-

tion to publicly stress en-

hanced cleaning procedures

airlines have instituted to dis-

infect airliner cabins, seats and

bathrooms, according to peo-

ple familiar with the details.

On Wednesday, FAA chief

Steve Dickson tried to reas-

sure passengers concerned

about the air inside plane cab-

ins. Testifying before a House

Appropriations subcommittee,

Mr. Dickson said research has

demonstrated that air quality

inside a plane is on par with

that of public buildings or

homes.

Some airlines are hoping

cheap tickets will do the trick.

U.S. domestic airfares dropped

an average of 14% between

March 4 and March 7, with

some routes seeing 70% dis-

counts, according to travel

booking app Hopper, which

pulls data on airfare searches

and price quotes from several

global distribution systems.

Alaska Air GroupInc.saidit

tested a fare sale last weekend

and saw bookings rise.

Low-cost carrierSpirit Air-

linesInc. said its flights are

still around 80% full with fares

dropping.

“Today, we’re dealing with

trying to find demand at very

low fares,” Chief Executive Ted

Christie said Tuesday.

Alex Fitzpatrick, 27 years

old, said the Google Flights

tracker he has set up for sev-

eral flights has been pinging

him regularly to alert drop-

ping or “unusually low” fares.

He has already pounced on

several deals, including a

spring ski trip in Utah, a week-

end in Chicago and two round-

trip tickets for visits to Boston

this summer for $300 each on

JetBlue Airways Corp. flights.

He said he usually expects to

pay $400 to $700 when he

flies to Boston from Southern

California, where he lives.

Being young and in good

health, Mr. Fitzpatrick said he

doesn’t worry too much about

the virus personally. And since

airlines have waived their

usual fees to change flights, “I

might as well book,” he said.

Some carriers are skeptical

that low prices would change

many passengers’ minds. Some

travelers say the hesitation to

book flights isn’t only about

fear of contracting an illness.

The possibility of new travel

restrictions and quarantines

makes it tough to commit to a

destination weeks or months

in advance.

BYALISONSIDER

Struggling Airlines Lower Fares,

Tout Hygiene to Lure Back Fliers

Amid virus fear, the

FAA chief reassured

passengers about air

quality inside jets.

Company’s Workers

Get Paid Sick Leave

Amazon.com Inc. is offering

paid sick leave to all workers—

including part-time warehouse

staff—who are affected by the

spreading novel coronavirus, as

companies scramble to mini-

mize the economic hardship of

the pandemic.

Amazon announced the ex-

panded policy on Wednesday

and said it has set up a relief

fund, with an initial $25 million

for its delivery partners, drivers

and some others affected by

the outbreak. The Wall Street

Journal previously reported on

the initiative.

Last week, the company

eased its policy for unpaid

time off in response to the

coronavirus outbreak, giving

workers the option to take an

unlimited amount of unpaid

time off through the end of

March without being penalized

for it.

—Dana Mattioli

the virus panic to price gouge.

Prices on Amazon spiked by

at least 50% for more than half

the listings of surgical masks

and hand sanitizers in the

weeks after the coronavirus

crisis came to the U.S. in late

January, according to a study

by the consumer advocacy or-

ganization U.S. PIRG Education

Fund.

The group found one case in

which a package of 320 Lysol

disinfecting wipes that typi-

cally sold for an average $13.57

over three months rose to

$220 on March 3. It also found

a listing for Purell sanitizer

that normally sells for $7.99

going for as high as $49.95.

An Amazon spokeswoman

said the price gouging is “a

clear violation of our policies,

unethical, and in some areas,

illegal.”

In a letter sent Friday re-

sponding to an inquiry from

Sen. Ed Markey (D., Mass.)

about price gouging, Brian

Huseman, Amazon vice presi-

dent for public policy, wrote

that the company bans exces-

sive prices and uses automated

and manual methods to detect

potential scams.

The company scans billions

of price changes a week and

has removed 530,000 offers

and suspended 2,500 accounts

because of coronavirus-related

price gouging, he said. The

company also removed millions

of products that make unsup-

ported claims about the coro-

navirus, he added.

Amazon said it is also work-

ing with several state attor-

neys general to prosecute of-

fenders. “We will continue to

assist all efforts to combat

abuse in our store,” Mr. Huse-

man wrote.

A

Anderson, Tim............A9

B

Bass, Erik..................B12
Bennett, Michael........B5
Bernstone, Rob.........B11
Beyer, Cal....................B5

C

Calhoun, David............B1
Chapek, Bob................B3
Christie, Ted................B2
Cohn, Jesse.................B4
Corbat, Michael.........B11

D

Deming, Daniel.........B11
Donovan, John............B4

F

Feld, Peter...................B4

G-H

Geldart, Stephen......B11
Helbing-Kuhl, Michaela
...................................B11

Huseman, Brian..........B1

I

Iger, Robert.................B3

J

Johnston, Hugh...........B2

K

Kelly, Gary...................B2

Kosner, John...............R6

L

Laguarta, Ramon........B1

Lenehan, David.........B12

Lunelli, Matteo.........B10

M

Misra, Priya...............B11

Moynihan, Brian.......B11

N

Nichols, Patrick.........B11

O

Ollivier, Paul..............B11

P-R

Pearson, Jane.............B5

Reed, Eleni..................B5

Rubin, Jason...............B5

S

Schute, Mike...............B5

Schenkel, Scott...........B4

Smith, Greg.................B1

Stankey, John.............B4

Stenman, Eric.............B5

Stephenson, Randall...B4

Sundstrom, Sheri........B5

T

Tuchman, Peter..........A9

V

van Raemdonck,

Geoffroy....................B3

Vogel, Jim.................B11

W

Wells, Mike...............B12

Welts, Rick...............A14

Wenig, Devin..............B4

Wirkkala, Tim.............B5

Z

Zuckert, Sara..............R6

Airlines have been writing to customers to emphasize stepped-up scrubdowns. Workers disinfected a Vietnam Airlines plane last week.

NHAC NGUYEN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

to switch from the grounded air-

craft to other planes.

Boeing also booked new or-

ders for 18 planes, resulting in a

net loss of 28 orders. Boeing lost

more than 200 MAX orders last

year, though it still has a backlog

of around 4,500 jets.

Air Canada has 24 MAX jets

in its fleet. The airline had

planned to expand its fleet to 50

MAX 8 aircraft and 11 MAX 9

planes, but confirmed Wednes-

day that it had canceled the lat-

ter. “Air Canada is fully commit-

ted to the Boeing 737 MAX

aircraft,” a spokesman for the

carrier said.

Some customers have also

swapped out the MAX for orders

of wide-body jets. Air Lease

Corp. last month agreed to take

a third batch of 787 Dreamliners

to replace some of its 135 out-

standing MAX orders. Oman Air

also swapped out an order for 10

MAX jets for four 787s.

Boeing reported cancellations

for four 787s last month but

booked net orders for 13 of the

jets. The company delivered 17

planes last month, including a

dozen 787s, one 777, three 767s

and a single military version of

the 737. RivalAirbusSE deliv-

ered 55 jets in February but se-

cured no new orders.

—Andy Pasztor

and Kim Mackrael

contributed to this article.

more carefully at how sophisti-

cated automated flight-control

systems interact to affect the

safety of new airliner designs.

Mr. Dickson said the MAX

will be tested by a group of 16

U.S. and foreign airline pilots

with a broad range of experi-

ence—the first use of regular

airline crew members rather

than specialized pilots working

for safety authorities in such a

process. He called it “the most

thorough review that any air-

plane has ever had in the history

of aviation.”

Boeing reported 46 canceled

jet orders for February, includ-

ing 11 MAX planes forAir Can-

adaand moves by other carriers

said in testimony to the House

Appropriations subcommittee

that the FAA is moving to in-

crease expertise and staffing in

offices that oversee delegation

of authority to plane manufac-

turers to vet the safety of air-

craft and onboard systems. He

said the agency had to look

Continued from page B1

Boeing

Moves to

Save Cash

Mr. Markey later praised

Amazon’s response in a tweet.

“All online retailers need to

hold accountable predatory

price-gougers who are profit-

ing from panic,” he said.

The retailer is grappling

with such problems, as it faces

rising concerns from legisla-

tors and the public about the

sale of dangerous, banned and

counterfeit products on its vast

online marketplace.

The challenge of policing

bad actors and dangerous

products is especially acute

during major events that gal-

vanize the public, when Ama-

zon is swarmed with third-

party sellers trying to

capitalize on a sudden surge in

demand. Ahead of the total so-

lar eclipse in the U.S. in 2017,

the website was overrun with

counterfeit protective glasses

that put users at risk of eye

damage.

Amazon refunded customers

who bought from third-party

sellers that didn’t provide doc-

umentation verifying their

products complied with safety

standards. Listings from sellers

without documentation were

also removed.

The Journal’s examination

of coronavirus-related prod-

ucts included an analysis of

194 listings claiming to be N95

or N99 masks, designations for

the percentage of airborne par-

ticles that are filtered out

when used properly.

—Shane Shifflett

contributed to this article.

As the coronavirus outbreak
expanded across the globe,
anxious shoppers turned to
Amazon.com Inc. for face
masks, hand sanitizer and
other products promising to
help protect against the virus.
The problem: Many didn’t
have federal certifications for
the safety standards they were
touting, some were counterfeit
or deceptively labeled and oth-
ers were being sold at many
times their usual prices.
More than 100 safety masks
and respirators on Amazon
were counterfeit or had unveri-
fiable protection and certifica-
tion claims, a Wall Street Jour-
nal investigation found.
There were several listings,
for example, for a protective
mask listed from a company
called Benehal, which the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and
Prevention’s National Institute
for Occupational Safety and
Health, or Niosh, warned last
year was a counterfeit.
Another listing for pink, la-
tex-free gloves promised to
“prevent coronavirus, flu and
pneumonia.” No consumer-
grade gloves do that. Several
other Amazon postings for
fisherman-style hats with plas-
tic face shields were being
marketed as protection that
“effectively isolates saliva car-
rying viruses.”
At the same time, some sell-
ers were taking advantage of

BYALEXANDRABERZON
ANDDANIELAHERNANDEZ

Amazon Battles Fake Masks, Price Gouging

Walt DisneyCo. sharehold-
ers approved a referendum out-
lining former Chief Executive
Robert Iger’s compensation for
2019, with less support than
the previous year’s vote.
At the annual meeting
Wednesday, the nonbinding
resolution on executive com-
pensation, including Mr. Iger’s
$47.5 million package, passed
with about 53% of shareholder
votes. The same resolution was
accepted at 2019’s meeting
with 57% voting in favor.
In 2018, the referendum was
rejected, causing the company
to alter Mr. Iger’s proposed

compensation.

Mr. Iger stepped aside as

CEO last month, announcing

that he would remain as execu-

tive chairman and focus on cre-

ative affairs. Former parks and

resorts head Bob Chapek was

named CEO.

At Wednesday’s meeting in

Raleigh, N.C., Mr. Iger sought to

assure shareholders that Disney

would weather the coronavirus

crisis. “These are challenging

times for everyone,” he said.

“But it’s also important to note

that throughout our company’s

nearly centurylong history, Dis-

ney has been through a lot, in-

cluding wars, economic down-

turns and natural disasters.”

BYR.T.WATSON

Disney Shareholders

Back Executive Pay

F