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Collateral Damage
Eclipse Aviation may be closed but its legacy lives on in the bleeding balance sheets of its local suppliers.
Almost all of the locally owned or locally operated suppliers are still in business today, filling out claim forms for unpaid invoices to submit to U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. There's little hope that they will see any money when Eclipse's assets are sold off in a Chapter 7 business liquidation.
Sun Country Industries is believed to have taken the biggest hit among local suppliers when Eclipse folded. Founded in Albuquerque in 1950 and now a division of Wisconsin-based McNally Industries, Sun Country is owed about $500,000 in back bills, plus is sitting on an additional $750,000 in parts and material that were slated to go to Eclipse.
While Eclipse is off the hook with its bankruptcy, Sun Country is still liable for the cost of the unpaid inventory, said Ken Hodges, senior vice president and general manager.
"We're still having to pay off our suppliers," he said. "That will go on for another six to seven months because we have payment plans with them."
The largest contract manufacturer for the aerospace industry in New Mexico, Sun Country made mechanical components and assemblies for the flight control systems on the Eclipse 500 very light jet. Eclipse accounted for about 20 percent of its business, Hodges said.
