20 August 2014
Albuquerque’s Eclipse Aerospace confirms it has laid off a significant number of employees at its New Mexico aircraft factory. The company would not specify an exact number.
Eclipse Senior Vice-President Ed Lundeen attributes the layoffs to the economy, especially the General Aviation segment.
“This is a function of market conditions and our efforts to reduce costs of the company,” Lundeen said. “As a result of these cost reductions we are going through a restructuring at the present time to insure the long term viability of this company.”
Eclipse had recently reduced its production schedule and was still struggling to find buyers of its light jet, the twin-engine Eclipse 550.
Lundeen said Eclipse will continue to manufacture planes and staff its service centres around the country, but at a slower pace and with a smaller staff.
“We’re very hopeful that when the economy recovers, and we start selling more aircraft that we will post positions for restaffing,” Lundeen said. “And we hope that these employees that were laid off today will reapply to come back to work for us.”
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