White House set to meet with senior airline, cruise industry officials

The White House is expected to meet this week with top executives from U.S. airlines and the cruise industry amid the growing coronavirus outbreak, two people briefed on the matter said.

Vice President Mike Pence, who is overseeing the administration's efforts, is expected to attend a meeting on Wednesday with airline officials including the chief executives of American Airlines Group Inc, United Airlines Holdings Inc, Southwest Airlines Co, Spirit Airlines Inc, and JetBlue Airways Corp. A separate meeting with cruise executives is planned, officials said. NBC News reported that Pence would meet with them on Saturday in Florida.

U.S. airlines report travel demand has fallen sharply. Airlines have cut flights to Asia and Italy amid the crisis and canceled all flights to China until late April.