Business & GA

Eclipse has furloughed most of its remaining 800 employees as court proceedings to sell the bankrupt company’s assets to a new company formed by CEO Roel Pieper have dragged on longer than anticipated.

“The good news is that we believe the closing and sale are absolutely within reach,” an Eclipse spokesman tells Flight International. “The bad news is that it’s taking longer than we thought.”

The spokesman says the company hopes to call the employees back to work “next week” and that employee benefits during the interim days will remain in place.

Eclipse entered Chapter 11 on 28 November and a sale of the assets to Pieper’s company, EclipseJet Aviation, for $28 million in cash and $160 million in promisory notes and equity took place on 20 January. Several caveats prevented the sale from being finalized at the time however, including the resolution of a lawsuit by a group of deposit holders seeking to get their $100,000 place holders returned.

As to why the hold up in the court proceedings, Eclipse says the sale is “more complex” than initially thought. “It’s put us in a squeeze,” says the spokesman.