Business & GA

US air taxi operator Linear Air is rallying other owners and operators of Eclipse 500 very light jets to join its new co-operative - Eclipse Services and Support - through which it hopes to acquire from bankrupt manufacturer Eclipse Aviation the relevant intellectual property and assets to allow operators to maintain, support and upgrade their aircraft and keep them flying into the future.

Eclipse filed for an expedited Chapter 7 liquidation on 24 February after its purchaser, a company belonging to Eclipse chief Roel Pieper, failed to come up with the cash to restart the Albuquerque-based jet maker.

"Eclipse Services and Support will begin contacting Eclipse 500 owners and forming the co-operative immediately, to parallel the Chapter 7 process and submit a winning bid to the court for the relevant assets as it proceeds over the next 90-plus days," says Linear Air.

Eclipse Services and Support will be affiliated with Concord, Massachusetts-based Linear Air, which already provides Eclipse 500 maintenance and charter services.

"Despite the struggles of Eclipse culminating in Chapter 7 liquidation, it's clear that the Eclipse 500 is well worth supporting and we believe the owners of the several hundred Eclipse 500s in the fleet will agree," says Linear Air chief executive Bill Herp.

© Linear Air