[MUSIC PLAYING]
Spirit Airlines ran out of runway last night. All airlines are being pinched by the high cost of jet fuel, but Spirit Airlines, the low cost carrier, had to close up shot. I'm Isharasco.
And I'm Scott Simon.
And this is up first from NPR News.
[MUSIC PLAYING] The price of jet fuel has nearly doubled since the war and Iran began. Airlines are raising prices and cutting rocks. Judges in Louisiana and its telemedicine access
to the abortion pill, their decision applies to the entire country. And the federal debt has now outgrown the entire US economy. So stay with us.
“We have the news you need to start your weekend.”
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Spirit Airlines, the ultra low-cost carrier, has been struggling for years. The company ceased operations overnight. The entire aviation industry faces stiff headwinds because of the soaring cost of jet fuel. NPR transportation correspondent Joel Rose
has been following these stories and joins us. Joel, thanks for being with us. Hey, Scott. Let's begin with Spirit. Why'd they go out of business?
High fuel costs certainly did not help. I mean, as you said, the whole industry has been dealing with a spike in the price of jet fuel since the beginning of the war in Iran,
“which has disrupted the supply of crude oil”
and jet fuel coming out of the Persian Gulf. That's driven up the price of jet fuel worldwide, even in the US, which is a net exporter of jet fuel the price has nearly doubled in the past two months. That is putting pressure on all airlines, really.
But in the case of Spirit, problems really ran much deeper than that. How show? Well, the airline has been in trouble for years. It was a pioneer of the ultra low cost business model
where airlines keep their fairs way down by stripping away the amenities that travelers had previously taken for granted and then charging extra for them. That's not a model for everybody, but it did make flying accessible for a lot of people
who otherwise could not afford it. And for a while, Spirit made money. But then the big legacy carriers created their own versions. They called basic economy fairs and spirit had hard times to try to merge with the bigger
airline jet blue, but the Justice Department sued to block the merger. Since then, Spirit has filed for bankruptcy twice.
In recent weeks, the airline sought a $500 million
federal bailout from the Trump administration, but those talks failed to yield to deal. And finally, Spirit ran out of money. The airline announced early this morning that it has ceased operations after more than 30 years.
Spirit says, "Anyone who booked flights directly "with the airline will automatically get a refund, "though if you booked with a voucher or a credit, "it is not clear yet if you're gonna get compensation "for that."
And some other airlines have agreed to cap their fairs or travelers who were holding tickets with Spirit. - How about other U.S. airlines?
“What are they doing about the higher fuel pressures?”
- Well, airline CEOs have been asked a version of that question a lot on earnings calls over the last few weeks. Those higher costs are going to eat into their profits, or make it harder for airlines to turn a profit at all this year.
But there are some things that the airlines can do to manage the costs. I talked about this with Shai Gilad. He's a former airline pilot now, Professor of Management at Georgetown University.
- We see that they're cutting flights. They're raising prices. They're adjusting capacity on different routes. And they have very good capability to do that through technology.
What it really comes down to is managing capacity to deal with this kind of volatility. - And Galaz says airlines do have some levers they can pull for that. - Quite good.
- Well, they can cut flights. They can trim their schedules. The big legacy carriers can also change which planes they fly on a given route to manage their capacity.
And all of the airlines are trying to some extent to pass higher fuel costs onto their customers in the form either a fair hikes or higher bag fees. And customers do seem to be willing to pay at least so far.
But US Airlines say they are watching demand very closely and that they'll be ready to make deeper cuts to flights later in the year if it makes sense to do that.
- First of all, what does this mean for people
who are still planning some or travel? - Nothing good. I mean, even if the US and Israeli war with Iran were to stop tomorrow, oil prices are likely going to stay high for a while.
And airlines are not going to be in a hurry to lower their fairs back to pre-war levels. Airline leaders have signaled.
They expect some of these price hikes
to stick even into next year.
“So the advice I'm hearing is, don't wait.”
If you have not booked your summer tickets yet, just go ahead. It is not worth waiting to see if those prices come down. - Thank you, Imperial St. Earl Rose. - You're welcome.
(upbeat music) - Yesterday a panel of judges in Louisiana ended telemedicine access to the abortion pill, Miffa Preston for the entire country for now at least. - Right away, the drug maker Danco filed
for an emergency stay for seven days and periods Selena Simmons-Duffin joins us now. Selena, thanks for being with us. - Good morning Scott.
- And first, what was the Louisiana case about?
- The case was brought by the state against the Food and Drug Administration. There are arguments centered around the FDA's decision to remove an in-person requirement for patients receiving Miffa Preston.
One of the medications used for abortion and the management of miscarriages. For decades, patients had to physically go to a clinic
“or a doctor's office and get the medicine.”
FDA changed that in 2023, so patients could have the doctor's visit online or over the phone and then receive the medication in the mail. Louisiana has an abortion ban. They argued that FDA allowing Miffa Preston
through the mail undermined their ban. A district court judge put the case on Holden April, Louisiana appealed that decision to the Fist Circuit Court of Appeals and a panel of judges on that court agreed with the state.
Which means that telemedicine access to Miffa Preston has just ended for the whole country effective immediately. - What does this ruling mean across the country? - Yeah, you know, this is a really big deal.
First of all, a decision from a panel of judges in New Orleans changed how Americans all over the country can access an FDA approved medication. That's unprecedented. In terms of abortion access,
this severely restricts access in states with abortion bands, but it also affects people in states like California, Maryland,
“Massachusetts who've come to rely on telemedicine too.”
In the almost four years since the Supreme Court overturned Rovey Wade, telemedicine abortion has grown. It's a big part of the reason why the overall number of abortions hasn't gone down at all nationally, despite the state bands.
Miffa Preston has been found to be safe by FDA.
It's been used by something like seven million patients
since it was approved in 2000. And doctors say the in-person requirement is not medically necessary, but now that requirement is back. There is a medication abortion protocol
that uses only Misa Prostle, which is another medication. So doctors could pivot to providing that through telemedicine instead. It's just really hard to know how this is gonna go.
It's just happened so quickly. - Sleena, I gather you've talked to many people who've used telemedicine to get Miffa Preston. What have you learned? - You know, one significant thing is that telemedicine
has become key for access and remote and rural areas all over the country. I talked to a woman named Julia. We're not using her last name because she fears professional repercussions
for sharing her story. In 2024, she lived in a remote part of California in the Sierra Nevada. - Hi, it was pregnant. It was not planned.
Did not want to keep it. - It was winter and she was in an area where roads were often unsafe. There were possible landslides. There were no OB-GYNs nearby.
So she used plant parenthood remotely and received the medication in the mail along with instructions. - It was very, very clear, easy to understand.
I never was unsure of what to expect.
- She says she's really grateful she had that option. - It's Lina we have to ask in coming up to the midterm elections or their political implications. - Oh yes, Democrats have come out swinging after they appeals court decision,
Washington Senator Patty Murray called it quote infuriating and infantilizing. Many Republican celebrated this decision. The Trump administration did not respond to my request for comment by airtime.
President Trump has been pretty understated on abortion this term. And anti-abortion advocates have noticed and called for him to be more forceful. Here's Mary Ziggler, she's an expert
in the legal history of abortion at UC Davis. - This is the most consequential potentially in some ways, ruling we've had since dogs from a lower court. And that's gonna require every politician to weigh in
and it doesn't really leave the Trump administration the option of doing nothing anymore. - She says the decision is going to send shock waves through medicine, through politics and we're just at the beginning.
- And Piers Lina Simmons, Duffin, thanks so much. - You're welcome. (gentle piano music)
- The federal debt is now bigger than the whole U.
- That is an ominous milestone. And Piers Lina Simmons's economic correspondent Scott Horsey joins us, Scott, thanks for being with us. - Good to be with you, good morning. - Please help us understand, what do we mean
“when we say the federal debt is outgrown the economy?”
- Well, this week, the Commerce Department released its quarterly report on the size of the economy, the nation's gross domestic product. And as of March, U.S. GDP was a little north of $31 trillion, which is a big number.
But the federal debt held by the public
is even bigger by about $49 billion.
And outside of a short period during the pandemic when GDP was really depressed, this is the first time federal debt has exceeded 100% of GDP since just after World War II. And that's a problem.
- Well, it's not an immediate problem. It's not like you go from debt that's 99% of GDP to 100% and suddenly the walls come crashing in. But it's more like the red warning light that's been flashing for a while now
is just a little bit brighter. Fiscal Watch Talk, my, I'm again, so the committee for a responsible federal budget says if this milestone gets people to pull their heads out of the sand for a moment, maybe that's a good thing.
- 100% is gonna make you stop for a second,
“at least, and think is this really healthy for the economy?”
And the unequivocal answer is no. - Federal debt, as a share of the economy, is more than doubled in the last two decades, and it's projected to keep growing. - Which caused the big ground up in debt?
- The simple answer is the government spends considerably more money than it collects in taxes. And it's one thing to do that in the midst of a World War or a global pandemic. But last year, for example,
the government ran a deficit of $1.6 trillion at a time of relative peace and prosperity. Most of that federal spending is on autopilot and it's gonna go up as more people retire and need costly health care.
Of course, last year Republicans passed another big tax cut. Meganna says mounting debt has been a bipartisan problem.
- We have two parties who are always trying to outbid each other
by giving away more. Both spending and tax cuts. The fiscal pander has become the default political move these days and that's really how the debt situation is so bad. - In the late 1990s, when the government briefly
had a balanced budget, federal spending and taxes were each around 18, 19% of GDP. Since then, taxes have shrunk as a share of the economy and spending has increased.
“- What are the downsides of having this much government debt?”
- Well, again, surpassing 100% is not some kind of tripwire. Other countries have carried bigger debt loads relative to their economies and it hasn't been a disaster. But it's not paying free to begin with interest on the federal debt is now more than a trillion dollars a year.
That's more than we pay for defense or Medicare or just about anything the government does other than social security. So, Congress has to come up with more than a trillion dollars every year to cover old debts
before it can start to fill the first pot hole
or invest in a new navy ship or pick up the trash at the national parks. And when the government's borrowing that much money, it can also be more expensive for everyone else to get alone to buy a house or build a business.
And finally, carrying this much debt means the government itself has less room to maneuver the next time the country faces a crisis like a widespread war or a deep recession. - What would it take to put a dent in the government debt? - Well, fiscal experts say we don't have to fill this hole,
but we do need to stop digging. And that means taxes, as I share the economy, need to go up and spending needs to come down. You're not going to solve this problem just by taxing billionaires or printing more money or weeding out waste fraud and abuse.
- McGinnis says it's going to require some sacrifice for everybody. - This is not one of those situations where you can just say, "Yes, let somebody else fix this problem." It took decades to get this deep in the hole in terms of fiscal policy.
It's going to take all of us to help fix the situation. - McGinnis says there's no shortage of policy ideas for getting a handle on the debt. What there has been, however, is a lack of political will. - And fear of Scott Horsley, thanks so much.
You're welcome. (upbeat music) - And that's up first for Saturday, May 2nd, 2026, I'm Scott Simon. - And I'm a Cherosco, Dave Mistich,
produced today's podcast with Health from Danny Henson, Martin Patience, and Danica Louise Peneda. Our editors were Diana Douglas, Rafael Nam, Russell Lewis, and Carmel Roth. - Here in the studio is our director, Fernando Naro,
and our technical director David Greenberg. - He got engineering support from J.C.s. Simon Lasslow, Jansson, and Zovek and Hogan. - Shannon Rhodes is our senior supervising editor. Our executive producer is Evie Stone, and Jim Kane,
is our deputy manager. - Tomorrow on the Sunday Story, evangelicals and America are divided over immigration enforcement,
All claimed to have the will of God on their side.
- Thank you for listening, and for supporting
your local NPR station. We are very grateful.
“And if you need to find your local NPR station,”
you can just go to stations.nPR.org.
We'll be there for you.
- Yes, or you can call Scott.
I think he sits by the phone. - I ran by the phone. - He ran by the phone.
“- Wait, wait, wait, got a call coming in now.”
(laughing)
