Meet the Repo Man Retrieving Spirit’s Planes Around the U.S.

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0:33President Trump backs suspending the federal gas tax. Plus, the administration's newest attempt to tackle record beef prices. And meet the guy responsible for getting planes back to their owners after an airline shuts down. It's not like anybody can just go to an airport and say, I'm here to repossess a Spirit airplane. It's Monday, May 11th. I'm Alex Osula for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

1:10We begin with the latest on the Iran war, which has been in a fragile ceasefire for more than a month. President Trump told reporters in Washington today that he had rejected Iran's response to a proposal for ending the war. I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support. And in the Gulf, we're exclusively reporting that the United Arab Emirates has carried out military strikes on Iran. Iran has targeted the UAE more than any other country. And in the Gulf, the UAE has become the country that's now most willing to confront Iran. The UAE hasn't publicly acknowledged the strikes, and the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on them.

1:46For more on the strikes and their implications, I'm joined now by WSJ senior video and national security correspondent Shelby Holliday. Shelby, what do we know about these strikes, like when they happened and what they hit? We know that the UAE has been quietly conducting strikes, we believe, for several weeks. There was speculation swirling as early as mid-March because there were photographs and videos of fighter jets over Iran that were not Israeli or American. So the UAE has a very capable, small but capable air force, highly trained, very advanced fighter jets. They have tankers that can refuel those jets.

2:19They have command and control aircraft that can support them. So when you're talking to military analysts, they say it makes a lot of sense UAE has been conducting strikes. Why would they sit there without responding when they have such strong capabilities? And they've been getting hammered by Iranian drones and missiles and attacks throughout the entire war. What has the reaction been in Washington to the UAE's involvement in this way? The Pentagon declined to comment. Our reporting indicates that the U.S. has quietly welcomed these attacks and would potentially welcome attacks from other neighbors in the Gulf as well.

2:53And now that the U.S. and Israel have completely wiped out Iran's air defenses, there's actually very low risk for these countries. Well, right now between Iran and the U.S., we do have a ceasefire, although it is a bit fragile at the moment. How does having the UAE as a combatant affect the ceasefire and where it goes from here? What we know is that the U.S. and the UAE have a very historically strong defense partnership. The question is, if President Trump rips up the ceasefire and says we're back to war, will the UAE get even more involved? And would other Gulf countries get involved? The UAE and Kuwait and Bahrain are all countries that you could see potentially stepping in to help a little bit more and defend their territories and strike back.

3:35That was the journal Shelby Holliday. Thanks, Shelby. Thank you.

3:44U.S. stock prices ticked higher, with the S &P and Nasdaq both climbing 0.2 percent. Oil prices rose again, with U.S. crude futures climbing nearly 3 percent and Brent crude moving back above$104. At the pump, the average cost of a gallon of regular gas is about$4.5. A year ago, it was$3.14. The big jump in gas prices has Republicans worried it could hurt the GOP in November's midterm elections. And now President Trump has added his support to suspending the federal gas tax. He told reporters that the tax should be suspended until, quote, it's appropriate. To suspend the tax, which is 18 cents a gallon, you need approval from Congress.

4:25The tax began in 1932, and it's never been suspended before. Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, said today that he would introduce such a bill. The leadership in the Senate and House didn't respond to requests for comment. And speaking of gas prices, this morning you heard about drivers in California where prices are the highest. Well, now we're talking about the state's job market. Across the country, the health care sector is keeping the labor market humming. Economics reporter Harriet Torrey says that's especially true for California. It's home to Hollywood and Silicon Valley, but it's health care that's keeping hiring going in the state.

5:01We're seeing increased demand for health care because there are just more older people. But the trend is particularly pronounced in California, given the property tax situation is such that if you've owned your house for many decades in California, you get a pretty good deal in terms of what you're paying for your property taxes. So it's often a good place for people to stay as they age in place. California does have a lot of services for older people. There is just quite a lot of spending at the state level that also drives demand for health care jobs. Coming up, we've got more on the latest moves from the Trump administration and fresh evidence that the spring home selling season is looking like a bust.

5:37Those stories and more after the break.

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6:21Ahead of the midterms, the Trump administration is trying a new way to bring down record high beef prices. Ground beef costs 40 percent more today than it did five years ago, and the president has asked advisers to find solutions to the high cost of meat. We're exclusively reporting that the administration is planning to temporarily reduce tariffs on beef imports. It could happen as soon as today. The suspension of the tariff quota system, which applies a higher tariff after a certain amount of it has been imported, then clears the way for more imports of steaks and ground beef. FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez told Disney that the Trump administration has conducted a, quote, sustained coordinated campaign of censorship against its ABC network.

7:02Gomez, the FCC's lone Democratic commissioner, told Disney's CEO in a letter today that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has weaponized the agency to pressure the free press. The FCC has opened several investigations into Disney and ABC. Disney declined to comment. And new data from the National Association of Realtors showed that existing home sales were nearly flat in April, rising just 0.2 percent. That's a slight gain from the previous month when home sales had dropped. But it's a blow to a housing industry that was hoping for a strong spring season to turn around an extended slump.

7:41Earlier this month, when Spirit Airlines stopped operating, there was at least one company that was suddenly very busy. It's called Nomadic Aviation Group. These repo men for planes are responsible for getting Spirit's planes from wherever they are and returning them to the companies that own them and releasing them out. Alison Sider, who covers airlines and air travel for the journal, dug into how this happens. So the leaseholders really wanted to get their planes as quickly as possible. and there are dozens of Spirit planes at airports around the country wherever they ended their last flight.

8:12And it's an immense logistical challenge to get them all back. This company, Nomadic, there's a million little things they have to think of that normally an airline would take care of, like finding the plane at the airport, getting access to it. Nomadic Aviation's managing partner, Steve Giordano, says that's a complicated legal process. It's not like anybody can just go to an airport and say, I'm here to repossess a Spirit airplane. I mean, let's hope, right? So the security is tight and we had to find the right people involved, collect documents, and then be in touch with our clients' legal departments to get powers of attorney, letters, orders from the courts.

8:51You know, in cases we had to present them to county sheriffs, you know, to gain access. And Allison says even after getting that far, actually getting on the plane can still be tricky. You need a staircase to the plane so the pilots can get into it, power on the ground. You need to find a company to fill up the fuel tanks and to do the ground handling. So they need to contract with all these different vendors. Each plane just is an immense undertaking to get it back. So just where are these planes going? Arizona to what are called airplane boneyards. The hot, dry weather there will prevent the planes from getting rusty until their owners decide what to do with them.

9:31And that's what's news for this Monday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Danny Lewis with supervising producer Tali Arbel. I'm Alex Osula for The Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.

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