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.

FMI: www.eclipseaviation.com