Company Expresses Confidence Sale Will
Proceed
ANN REALTIME UPDATE
02.18.09 1245 MST: Michael McConnell, President and
General Manager of Eclipse Aviation, contacted ANN Wednesday
afternoon to confirm news of furloughs at the Albuquerque, NM-based
planemaker... summarizing the events as a "good news/terrible news
situation."
McConnell asserts Eclipse remains "very close" to finalizing the
sale of the company to EclipseJet, but concedes the sale process is
"taking much longer than first thought."
The company's Board of Directors met Wednesday morning, and
opted to furlough approximately 800 workers. Workers were told they
will receive their paychecks for the last two weeks of work, but
until the sale is finalized they will be out of a job at
Eclipse.
"We anticipate being able to call them back soon, but we made no
promises," McConnell said. "We're planning for the worst but hoping
for the best."
McConnell said both EclipseJet and Roel Pieper are "surprised
and frustrated" that the sale process is taking so long. Eclipse
had remained open since the planemaker filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy under Debtor-in-Possession financing.
Original Report
1120 MST: Aero-News has learned Eclipse
Aviation, the company that for all intents and purposes introduced
the very-light jet market to the world, may be closing
its doors in Albuquerque, NM.
An anonymous source close to the matter tells ANN all employees
at the company's plant were furloughed following an all-hands,
last-minute meeting called Wednesday morning.
All workers are furloughed immediately; according to our source,
employees will receive their last paychecks at the end of this
week, and will receive benefits through the end of this month
(there are reports saying benefits will continue for the
duration of the furlough... however long that
may be -- Ed.) It's unclear at this
time whether employees may be called back to the company at a later
date.
Details remain sketchy at this point. Calls to Eclipse Aviation
personnel were either unanswered, or routed to voicemail.
A person answering the phones at the company's headquarters
would not comment on whether or not the company had furloughed
workers, and routed calls to voicemail for several Eclipse
personnel.
Eclipse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November
2008.
As ANN reported, US Bankruptcy Court Judge
Mary Walrath "verbally approved" the sale of the assets of Eclipse
Aviation to EclipseJet Aviation International, a subsidiary of
ETIRC Aviation, on January 20... and which time a spokesperson with
Eclipse said the final transaction was expected to be completed
within 2-3 weeks.
That time has come and gone, with no word about whether
EclipseJet -- run by ETIRC Aviation Chairman Roel Pieper, who
became the acting CEO of Eclipse in July 2008 -- had successfully
closed the sale. ANN has been in contact over the past several
weeks with a number of Eclipse customers and position holders, who
expressed concern that no word of the final sale had been made.
More information to follow as it develops.