Recorded phone message says company will deposit past-due payroll owed workers by Tuesday.

Eclipse Aviation is saying in a recorded telephone message to employees that it has acquired short-term financing to pay the company's payroll, KRQE News 13 and KOB-TV are reporting.

According to the message, Eclipse will deposit all past-due payroll owed its employees no later than next Tuesday, News 13 reported.

Earlier today, Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez Mayor Martin said an Eclipse Aviation executive told him the troubled aircraft manufacturer is confident it will be able to secure much-needed financing, The Associated Press reported.

Chavez said he spoke Thursday with Peg Billson, Eclipse's president for manufacturing, and she assured him that Eclipse expects to remain solvent despite a payroll shortfall that surfaced this week, the AP said.

11:20am 11/13/08 -- Eclipse Runs Out of Money To Pay Workers: Employees told today they won't be paid for past two weeks or until more money comes in.

Eclipse Aviation has run out of money to pay its 1,100 employees, according to the Albuquerque Journal's Richard Metcalf who was on scene at the troubled Albuquerque company this morning and filed this early report:

In a series of meetings this morning, company officials told workers that they would not be paid for their last two weeks of work. If they want to continue working for the Albuquerque-based jet manufacturer, workers were told they wouldn’t get paid until more money came in.

The 10-year-old company has been financed by investors, including the state of New Mexico, to the tune of more than $1 billion. An effort has been under way for several months to raise another $200 million to $300 million to continue operations.

The global financial crisis has hampered the latest fund-raising effort, Eclipse CEO Roel Pieper acknowledged in a September interview with the Journal.

In an effort to cut costs and streamline its operation, Eclipse laid off nearly 800 workers in Albuquerque last August. The company has since restructured its operations and slowed production of its Eclipse 500 very light jet to a crawl in order to retool its assembly line.

Company officials had hoped production would pick up again by early 2009.

(Watch for Metcalf's full report in Friday's Albuquerque Journal.)

Breaking at 6:58am -- Eclipse Aviation in Turmoil: Workers told this morning they won't be paid for past two weeks, KOB-TV is reporting.

Workers at Eclipse Aviation in Albuquerque had a meeting at 6:30 this morning where they were told they would not be paid for the past two weeks of work, KOB-TV is reporting.

Eclipse officials told workers to call an 800 number later today to find out whether they even had jobs, according to Eyewitness News 4.

Even though employees were told they could work the rest of the day, several workers were seen speeding out of the parking lot this morning, KOB-TV reported.

There has been no word from officials at Eclipse this morning.

Late last month, a Connecticut-based market research firm predicted that Eclipse would soon fall victim to global financial turmoil and cease production of its very light jet, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

Officials had no comment on the report from Forecast International Inc. in late October, but had said publicly the Albuquerque-based company needed $200 million to $300 million in new equity investment to restructure its operations and reach profitability, the Journal reported at the time.

Just this week, the Journal reported that Eclipse customers have have four lawsuits pending in federal court against the aircraft manufacturer, accusing it of failing to refund deposits after it raised the price of its very light jet in June.

The plaintiffs — three companies and a California man — each are seeking refunds ranging from $152,000 to $182,000 paid as deposits after they ordered their Eclipse 500s, the Journal reported.

Eclipse spokeswoman Alana McCarraher said Tuesday she could not comment on pending litigation.