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.

FMI: www.eclipseaviation.com, www.dws.state.nm.us/