Eclipse Aviation

[muchado]

P, Beyer, any of y'all see the latest on Eclipse?? Didn't pay their employees for past 2 weeks... People storming out packin their **** up.

I think this is the nail in the coffin for Eclipse.

...they owe us a large chunk. Yay. Great thing for A/R :

 

[J.A.B]

What about the orders already placed

 

[muchado]

What about the orders already placed

There's alot of messed up stuff. They haven't been paying suppliers. They will not pay until you cut them off then they pay minimum to get you to ship more product. I am willing to bet people will lose down payments on their orders. There's already lawsuits from people trying to cancel orders because Eclipse was not delivering product as promised! Dayjet cancelled over 1000 aircraft---and they were Eclipse's biggest customer, their whole market segment of "air taxi" service was based around the Eclipse 500.... When the Aircraft Manuf. cannot deliver, you can not do business! DayJet has had all but 1 plane packed in Gainesville for a while.

 

[P]

Fuggin scumbags, I feel sorry for the employee's not the company. That is complete bullshit to **** your own people over like that.

 

[J.A.B]

There's alot of messed up stuff. They haven't been paying suppliers. They will not pay until you cut them off then they pay minimum to get you to ship more product. I am willing to bet people will lose down payments on their orders. There's already lawsuits from people trying to cancel orders because Eclipse was not delivering product as promised! Dayjet cancelled over 1000 aircraft---and they were Eclipse's biggest customer, their whole market segment of "air taxi" service was based around the Eclipse 500.... When the Aircraft Manuf. cannot deliver, you can not do business! DayJet has had all but 1 plane packed in Gainesville for a while.

Dayjet shut down completly I think - could be wring but I thougt they just went out of business

 

[P]

DayJet Discontinues Passenger Operations
As of September 19, 2008, DayJet Services, LLC, has discontinued its jet services and cancelled all future flights as a result of the company’s inability to arrange critical financing in the midst of the current global financial crisis.

We regret the disruption and hardship caused by the sudden shutdown of DayJet services to our customers, employees, DayPort communities, suppliers and stockholders. Unfortunately, DayJet is unable to honor customer reservations or issue refunds.

Additional information about DayJet is available at the following links:

 

[P]

FLight Options too... they up and shut down alot of thier operation earlier in the year...

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/05/flight_options_cuts_nearly_200.html

 

[P]

Back on Topic with some official stuff about Eclipse..

Albuquerque, N.M.-based Eclipse Aviation Corp. told workers Thursday that the company could not cut checks for the bi-weekly pay period that ended on Nov. 12.




And...

Albuquerque, N.M.-based Eclipse will not attract the new investment it needs to continue making the Eclipse 500 jet beyond the first quarter of 2009, said Douglas Royce, an aircraft analyst with Forecast, a Connecticut-based market research firm.

“Eclipse continues to produce aircraft at a low rate as it seeks to preserve cash,” Royce said. “We have forecast production of 162 Eclipse 500s during 2008. We believe that the company will be able to push production out into early 2009 but will be forced to cease production within the first quarter.”

Eclipse Aviation opened its northeast service center at Albany International Airport earlier this year.

Alana McCarraher, Eclipse spokeswoman, said the company has no comment on the Forecast report.

Forecast pointed to Eclipse’s inability to ramp up assembly in the last two years as the biggest factor now dragging down company finances.

From the start, Eclipse’s business plan depended on a high-volume production strategy. By modeling its assembly line on the automotive industry and relying on economies of scale, Eclipse expected to maintain a low-priced jet that could undercut competition in the emerging very-light-jet (VLJ) industry.

But the needed production ramp up never occurred and the Eclipse 500 price tag has climbed from $1.52 million in May 2008 to $2.15 million now.

Complicating the company’s finances, Eclipse must still deliver aircraft at the earlier, lower price to customers who executed an aircraft purchase agreement with a 60 percent deposit. That means each aircraft delivered under the old price is delivered at a loss, and the company does not have the financial resources to absorb those losses and survive, Royce said.

Eclipse lost its largest customer in September when Florida-based DayJet Corp. â€" an air taxi service that based its business on low-priced Eclipse jets â€" shut its doors. That cut Eclipse’s order backlog substantially.

With more VLJ companies now entering the market, Eclipse would lose more of its order backlog if it raises prices any higher, Royce said.

Eclipse is currently seeking another $300 million equity investment to restructure operations and reach profitability, but the company will be hard pressed to find that funding given the current global financial crisis.

“Under the circumstances, Forecast International believes that securing new funding, while still possible, is unlikely,” Royce said. “Forecast International has cut its forecast for the Eclipse 500 accordingly.”

Based in Newton, Conn., Forecast International specializes in long-range industry forecasts and market analysis for aerospace, defense, power systems and military electronics

 

[muchado]

YEP SCUMBAGS.

You know it's the last straw when employees arent getting paid.


Here's an excerpt from the Eclipse Critic Blog, I've been following this blog for a while:


Sadly, it looks like the end. This is not a post I was looking forward to. I've experienced grief myself recently and know at first hand the pain and loss the staff at EAC, along with suppliers and customers, must feel at this time. My thoughts and best wishes go out to all those affected by todays' events.First confirmed reports were from KBO-TV reproduced below. Eclipse employees unpaid for last two weeksThe employees of Eclipse Aviation learned this morning that they won’t be receiving their paychecks for the last two weeks of labor. Employees at the Albuquerque manufacturing facility say that they were called into a meeting early this morning and told they would not be receiving paychecks. They were handed a sheet of paper with a toll-free phone number to call to see if they would be paid. No reason, apparently, was given for the action.Employees leaving the early morning meeting expressed anger, frustration and uncertainty before speeding out of the facility's parking lot. Among the concerns they voiced: What would become of their vacation and what would become of their retirement investments.Employees were told that they could come and go from the workplace throughout the day but many immediately emptied their desks and left. Some employees attending the meeting say that company officials told them that they stayed up into the early morning hours trying to find a way to assure the workers would be paid but were unable to do so.A critical vendor to EAC has also confirmed to me they are 'pulling the plug'. The knock on effect of this could lead to an early grounding of the remaining FPJ's, and serious efforts will be required to get them flying again. This is a direct consequence of the high level of integration in the design.A few interesting reactions to the news over the past few hours.:-1. Peg is clearly relieved that the end has come. The following hit the inbox from a 'reliable source' today:-"My partner works at a coffee outlet close to the EAC campus. He knows Peg, who was there this morning laughing up a storm, apparently without a care in the world. She was with a guy, but they were acting like teenagers. Public displays of affection and all that. Really weird for a 'professional' woman in her 40s..."2. Several reputable journalists would like to talk to those of you affected by these events. If you are prepared to go on the record, send your name, a phone number and what relationship you had with EAC to [email protected]. I've been asked the question, several times today, so I want to state that suppliers and customers are welcome to post to the blog or contact me at the above address should you want to establish contact with each other. I've already preformed this service a number of times in the past....4. All is not lost. I suspect that we will see several operations opening up which will offer services, in a number of ways. The following quote, from William Feather and provided by an 'ex Eclipser' is worth remembering at this time."Something that has always puzzled me all my life is why, when I am in special need of help, the good deed is usually done by somebody on whom I have no claim." Clearly the situation will evolve rapidly. I'll do my best to keep up with events over the next few days.Shane Posted by Shane Price at 10:37 AM

 

[P]

ANd hell while Im on BusinessReveiw... How about some local biz gossip

http://birmingham.bizjournals.com/birmingham/

Fuggin Carraway, turning S Korean. geebus.

Other blurbs..
Zoës Kitchen's CEO Cassimus resigns Amerex cuts production at Trussville plant CTS sells Birmingham HQ, leases it back UAB wins $2M grant to study immune system Mercedes gives buyouts, cuts production U.S. Steel to cut 500 jobs Colonial applies for federal bailout money Hoar Construction to build Texas hospital Alabama foreclosures rise 15 percent L'Tryce Slade to lead minority council


JAB, CEO of Zoes kitchen "had" a Ciruss, wonder if he is still flying that thing or not ? laughing1


ANOTHER BLURB, JOHN G. In a business related matter. Last night Constant Aviation held an open house to display thier new ProLine avionics package for Beechjets, anyway the owner of Premier Group and I were talking about atv's four wheeling and all that kind of stuff , not to be a ****, but this is a wealthy self made man mind you and he was rambling about " I was looking online at some of those buggies like you have and man, there are some big money in alot of those" and I dropped your name and business. Anyway, he said he LOVES going into ya'lls stores and always buys from you guys and so forth, wanted me to relay that he appreciates the way he is treated when he is there and is always happy with his product.s Went on to tell me a story about him and his wife with the dog and at one of the stores they told him "Dont worry, bring your dog on in and look around" and that kind of personability meant alot to him.

 

[J.A.B]

FLight Options too... they up and shut down alot of thier operation earlier in the year...

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/05/flight_options_cuts_nearly_200.html

I tried to go to work for them a while back - not enough multi time God I am glad I got my ass away form airplane driving.

 

[P]

Rob, who is "Peg" and who is Shane Rice that wrote that blog ?

We have indications that Hawker is going to drop alot of service center support this year and narrow it down to two outside service centers. I know Constant has recruited a ton of people from Fulton COunty over in the ATL ( A Hawker Service Center in BIG trouble.... )

Aviation is tough business when the economy is bad.

 

[J.A.B]

JAB, CEO of Zoes kitchen "had" a Ciruss, wonder if he is still flying that thing or not ? laughing1

Defiantly not if the damn thing was out of warranty - those were great rides but man some of the early years have ISSUES

 

[muchado]

Rob, who is "Peg" and who is Shane Rice that wrote that blog ?

We have indications that Hawker is going to drop alot of service center support this year and narrow it down to two outside service centers. I know Constant has recruited a ton of people from Fulton COunty over in the ATL ( A Hawker Service Center in BIG trouble.... )

Aviation is tough business when the economy is bad.

Peg Billson is Eclipse's chief operating officer....

here's a wiki excerpt of Shane Price:

In April 2008 Eclipse obtained a court order in California ordering Google to provide the IP addresses of 29 anonymous contributors to the Eclipse Aviation Critic NG blog, which is hosted on Google's Blogger service.

The blog, run by Shane Price of Dublin, Ireland is a forum for those who are critical of the company and its treatment of employees, customers and suppliers. Eclipse CEO Vern Raburn said that the pursuit of blog contributors was not to suppress criticism, stating: "We're not trying to suppress dissension or criticism. We're just trying to find out where it's coming from." Raburn stated that since Eclipse employees and suppliers are bound by non-disclosure agreements he wants to ensure that these are not being broken.

Price indicated that some of the identities named in the court subpoena had not posted on the blog and that these may have come from a previous blog that was critical of Eclipse, but was shut down. The subpoena was opposed by several people in court on the basis that, since they have no connection to the company, the disclosure of their identities violates their First Amendment rights.

One contributor to the blog, Rich Lucibella, told CharterX Industry Headline News that he found Eclipse's actions "outrageous." Lucibella said:

“ What Eclipse is attempting to do is just wrong, they want to take advantage of people's rights; I can't stand by and let them do that...Eclipse doesn't have the right to access other people's private information. For example, if three bloggers are or were employed by Eclipse but others aren't, then the rest of the people's privacy rights are violated under the First Amendment. Eclipse hasn't appeared to invoke the rule of reason."

Lucibella retained attorney Norman Malinski and filed a motion in the Superior Court of California to prevent Google releasing contributor's private information.

Eclipse CEO Vern Raburn was contacted several times by CharterX Industry Headline News for comment on this issue, but he refused to answer any questions during the period of the controversy.

On August 3rd, 2008 after Vern Raburn's removal from the company, the new management at Eclipse dropped the legal actions against Google and the bloggers, under terms set by Malinski. "If Eclipse ever goes after these 29 bloggers again, Eclipse could face financial penalties in advance of proceedings," Malinski said.
Malinski concluded:

“ Freedom of speech rights includes being able to keep your identity anonymous, to be able to express freedom of speech, to have the freedom to disagree with someone else's opinion without being harassed."

 

[muchado]

damn wikipedia is up to date!

On 13 November 2008 the company employees were called to a 6 am meeting by Eclipse President of Manufacturing, Peg Billson and told that they will not be paid for the past two weeks work. Billson informed the employees that the problem was in obtaining financing from Europe. Employees were told by the company to go home and await further notice from the company. Employees "expressed anger, frustration and uncertainty before speeding out of the facility's parking lot." Eclipse public relations manager Alana McCarraher did not return phone calls from the media and the company has not announced its plans.[26][47][48][49][50]

State of New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Fred Mondragon said that were indications that the banks had frozen the assets of Eclipse Aviation, saying "I understand the banks put a squeeze on the company, freezing their cash assets. The news is not good."[50]

The Eclipse service facility in Gainsville, Florida was closed and locked up on 14 November 2008 and calls made to that company location by the media were not returned.[5]

 

[P]

Defiantly not if the damn thing was out of warranty - those were great rides but man some of the early years have ISSUES

MFD say's what ? laughing1

 

[P]

Thanks Rob, Im always very skeptical about "new" aircraft manufactures, they truely have every card stacked against them. I think thats alot of why Honda has put off the Honda Jet so long, they understand the market is tough to break into and I think they are testing and refining thier product so when it does drop its a long run contender.

I dont see Cirrus sticking around honestly, I dont know what they were thinking developing the "Cirrus Jet" thats such a niche market and all... they dont have there prop planes sorted out and service support is lacking hugely there too.

Piper producing the "Piper Jet" makes me laugh too... besides the fact that its hideous to look at.

 

[muchado]

Thanks Rob, Im always very skeptical about "new" aircraft manufactures, they truely have every card stacked against them. I think thats alot of why Honda has put off the Honda Jet so long, they understand the market is tough to break into and I think they are testing and refining thier product so when it does drop its a long run contender.

I dont see Cirrus sticking around honestly, I dont know what they were thinking developing the "Cirrus Jet" thats such a niche market and all... they dont have there prop planes sorted out and service support is lacking hugely there too.

Piper producing the "Piper Jet" makes me laugh too... besides the fact that its hideous to look at.

Watch out for the Embraer Phenom that's a NICE and pricey jet.

Yea Honda seems to be taking a more realistic approach---plus I'm sure internal financing VS going for broke and screwing over everyone who lent you money (see travis' forclosure thread) FCK eclipse.... Vern Rayburn the founder is one of Obama's key advisors laughing1 FIGGER THAT ONE OUT!!! :

 

[P]

Yea Embraer is high dollar... They have been around in the airlines a good bit so you know they have financial backing.

Our owner looked at Embraer very hard at NBAA, I pray he doesnt get the hots for thier stuff.... support is difficult to coordinate as they are in South America and again, there stuff is HIGH DOLLAR.

 

[muchado]

Yea Embraer is high dollar... They have been around in the airlines a good bit so you know they have financial backing.

Our owner looked at Embraer very hard at NBAA, I pray he doesnt get the hots for thier stuff.... support is difficult to coordinate as they are in South America and again, there stuff is HIGH DOLLAR.

DOOD.... you have no idea.

Then again would you be complaining about a trip to Brazil? They are one of my top customers so I hope to jump in a plane sometime within the next year for a visit Couple of co-workers went down there and they say teh wimmins wear not so much clothing at work