Access Air may encounter turbulence in getting state loan

Des Moines based Access Air is seeking a six-and-a-half million dollar state loan to fund a reorganization plan the airline says would help it move out of bankruptcy. House Republican Leader, Christopher Rants, says the request puts the legislature in a tough spot.Access Air needs to have approval of the loan by Friday, and Rants says the legislative action doesn’t usually move that quickly. He says the airline does have a better operating plan now.He says there are many questions that may not be able to be answered in the short time given.Rants, a republican from Sioux City, says he doesn’t think the airline will be permanently grounded if it doesn’t get the loan.A request for a 10-million dollar state loan for the airline was turned down by the legislature last year, before Access Air entered bankruptcy.