State Extends Hours For Furloughed Workers To File
Unemployment
One day after shutting down operations, Eclipse Aviation hinted
Thursday all that's preventing workers from returning to their jobs
is some paperwork that needs to be finalized on the sale of the
Albuquerque, NM-based planemaker to a European corporation.
As ANN reported, Eclipse furloughed roughly
800 workers Wednesday morning, claiming delays in the sale process
led the Board of Directors to shut down operations.
Quoting statements made by Eclipse customer division President
and General Manager Michael McConnell, KRQE-13 reported Thursday
that sale is now in the final review process, with all parties
concerned pouring over the contracts to insure everything is in
order. The CBS affiliate adds European newspapers have indicated
the sale could be completed within a few days.
Presumably, once that process is completed, the $188 million
sale of the company to EclipseJet Aviation International, a
subsidiary of ETIRC Aviation, will go through. Eclipse CEO Roel
Pieper also runs ETIRC.
Even if that does happen, what the sale would mean for
furloughed workers remains to be seen. EclipseJet has not disclosed
what its plans for production are once the company takes over
Eclipse's facilities in southeast Albuquerque, and the company is
under no obligation to rehire those furloughed employees.
Eclipse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November
2008, with Eclipse operating under debtor-in-possession financing
until Wednesday. Last month, US Bankruptcy Court Judge Mary Walrath
verbally approved the sale of the assets of Eclipse Aviation to
EclipseJet, the sole bidder for the company... but since that time,
the sale process has stalled.
Furloughed employees are due to receive their paychecks for the
period through February 13 on Friday. The company has not said when
they may expect payment for the 2 1/2 days worked this week, but
McConnell reiterated Thursday that benefits will continue for those
employees in the near-term.
In the meantime, the New Mexico Department of Workforce
Solutions -- already slammed for the past several months with
unemployment applications from fired and laid off workers
throughout other state industries -- said it will have extended
hours on Saturday to handle an influx of applications from workers
furloughed from Eclipse.