Thursday, November 13, 2008

Eclipse Employees Unpaid for 2 Weeks' Work

By Heather Clark
Associated Press
      Eclipse Aviation employees anxiously watched their bank accounts, hoping to see their last two weeks' pay, and carried boxes of personal belongings to their cars during work hours today after they were told the company could not meet payroll.
    Ray Eveland, a quality assurance inspector at the final-assembly facility for the twin-engine Eclipse 500 light jet, said the company's president of manufacturing, Peg Billson, called employees to a meeting at 6 a.m. on payday.
    She told them the company encountered a last-minute problem getting financing from Europe to pay employees for their last two weeks of work.
    The announcement left many employees feeling frustrated and angry that they were told of the problems so late, but others were hopeful the company would find a way to pay them.
    "They knew that they were in this financial bind," Eveland said. "I just cannot believe they just found out the day before. If that's the case, no one should be doing business with them."
    It also left the company's 1,400 employees in limbo, Eveland said, because unless layoffs are announced, they cannot apply for unemployment benefits.
    Eclipse has not spoken about its payroll troubles. An Eclipse spokeswoman didn't return several telephone messages seeking comment and the company ignored requests to meet with reporters in a parking lot.
    Charles Wollmann, a spokesman with the State Investment Council, which has a $19 million equity stake in the Albuquerque company, said: "It's still an internal company issue, but from what I understand the company was not able to make payroll."
    A spokeswoman for Mayor Martin Chavez had no immediate comment.
    Employees at the Albuquerque manufacturing facility, where the six-seat aircraft are assembled, were handed a toll-free phone number to call later to see if they would be paid.
    As of midday Thursday, there was no information available on the line, Eveland said.
    But some employees, who declined to give their names but wore Eclipse security badges, remained hopeful the company will get back on its feet.
    A female employee who came out of Eclipse headquarters insisted operations were continuing.
    "We are still working. We are positive," she said, shaking a finger at reporters.
    David Wayham, a retired pilot who was given a tour of the facility Thursday, said "the mood was down" at Eclipse headquarters.
    "I saw a few people just standing and conversing, probably just talking about their situation," he said.
    Eclipse Aviation has said it needs at least $200 million in new investment, according to industry analysts. Company spokeswoman Alana McCarraher said earlier this week the company was still seeking financing.
    Wollmann said with the failure of corporate giants on Wall Street and the troubled economy, "right now is one of the most challenging times in the financial markets that we've ever seen, and it's a very difficult time to be out raising capital."
    But the State Investment Council remains "cautiously optimistic" about Eclipse's future, he said.
    In late September, Eclipse said a Russian state bank, Vnesheconombank, agreed to pay $205 million to build a manufacturing plant in Russia to assemble the Eclipse 500.
    Eclipse has had a rocky year, even before the nation's economic troubles this fall.
    The company's founder and former chief executive, Vern Raburn, lost his job in July in a management shake-up. Eclipse also announced 650 layoffs last summer and its largest customer, air taxi operator DayJet Corp. of Boca Raton, Fla., announced it was going out of business.

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