Eclipse Owners Want Assets

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The spokesman for a group of Eclipse 500 owners says plans by New Eclipse – listen to the New Eclipse podcast here – and one other unnamed group trying to resurrect the failed company are “predatory” on existing owners because of the costs proposed to finish the aircraft already flying. Randall Sanada, of Jet Alliance, told The Associated Press the Eclipse Owners Group hopes to buy the company assets that would allow owners to arrange for their own upgrades and maintenance and the other bids, one of which has not been made public, want to take advantage of the owners. “The idea in both of these plans is to exploit the captive market that the Eclipse customers represent,” he said.

New Eclipse’s leader Phil Friedman would probably disagree with Sanada’s terminology but he told AVweb that finishing the existing fleet (avionics, ice protection, etc.) is a necessary revenue stream to get the company on its feet and resume production in a couple of years. Friedman said he’s worked with former Eclipse executives to come up with the plan. It’s not known who’s behind the other bid for the assets but there’s been speculation for months that founder and former CEO Vern Raburn is in the picture somehow. A Delaware bankruptcy judge approved the Chapter 7 liquidation of Eclipse last week. Stay tuned … .

Related Content:
Podcast analysis of the Eclipse situation with the Teal Group’s Richard Aboulafia

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