FAYETTEVILLE

travel company pulls through with loan.

A federal loan program shoring up some of the nation’s major airlines also helped a Northwest Arkansas travel company survive the pandemic.

The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act provided the U.S. Treasury Department with $500 billion for loans and other investments “to provide liquidity to eligible businesses, States, and municipalities related to losses incurred as a result of coronavirus.”

The law earmarked up to $25 billion of that money for a passenger airline industry loan program, which ultimately provided nearly $21.2 billion in low-interest loans for airlines, ticket agents and aircraft repair companies, according to a report released this week by the Congressional Oversight Commission.

Of that, more than $21 billion went to nine air carriers, with $7.5 billion of that going to American Airlines and $7.491 billion for United Airlines.

Fayetteville’s Bristin Travel LLC, which received a loan for $549,651, was one of two travel agencies nationwide to participate.

Ovation Travel Group in New York City, which received a $20 million loan, was the other.

Bristin Travel’s founder, David Temple, says the loan, along with other government covid-19 programs, helped his company survive the roughest business climate he’s ever encountered.

With more than 100 trips to Mexico and the Caribbean under his belt, the 35-year-old businessman has made travel and tourism his mission.

Operating as BlueSun Vacations, his company arranges destination weddings and sunny respites.

Specializing in seaside destinations, its travel agents are referred to as BeachMasters.

After the coronavirus pandemic closed the country, “it was a nightmare,” Temple said.

Transportation Security

Administration checkpoint travel numbers, which had been about 2.15 million passengers on March 31, 2019, fell to 136,023 on March 31, 2020.

Borders closed; overseas flights were canceled.

With customers canceling trips and credit evaporating, “my full-time job became ‘make sure we don’t run out of cash,’” he said.

“I applied to about 98 different loans, grants and government subsidized vehicles,” he said.

The Paycheck Protection Program, combined with the Small Business Administration’s Covid-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, helped him avoid disaster, Temple said.

It was an expensive process; Temple estimates he spent $25,000 on lawyers and accountants overall.

“The closing documents were 498 pages. The compliance documentation since getting the loan has been almost 2,000 pages,” he said.

The interest and fees on the loan will ultimately be about 6.75%, he said.

The loan’s maturity date is Oct. 26, 2025.

The Treasury Department will “get paid back, in whole, with interest,” he said. “It shouldn’t cost the U.S. taxpayer anything, and it saves all the jobs.”

The company now has 16 employees, including six who were hired this week, and the business is bouncing back, he said.

People are looking to travel over the summer and yearend trips are also heating up, he said.

U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., who serves on the bipartisan congressional oversight commission, said the program did what it was supposed to do, pointing to the revival in passenger travel.