Eclipse - Risen from the Ashes!

An EAA newsletter just pointed me to an article about the new Eclipse Aerospace. A group of aircraft owners banded together and purchased the bankrupt company for a mere $40 million.

It's great to see a group of aircraft owners stepping up and taking care of themselves, rather than just whining "not fair" and expecting someone to give them a handout. I'm sure it's a lot easier for a person to make a bold investment like this when he or she has the discretionary income to buy a personal jet in the first place, but I think this group has the potential to reap a lot of rewards from its investment.

According to Bizjournals.com, a second group had intended to join the bidding for Eclipse's assets, but they ended up not even making an offer.

The new Eclipse Aerospace is focusing on supporting existing aircraft for now. They have a couple service centers set up to help with that. Eventually, they want to work out the bugs/shortcomings of the current fleet. When that's finished though, I think they'll have a version of the aircraft that could be go back to an assembly line. The demand for the jets seemed high enough at first to sustain production; hopefully that demand will still exist in a few years.

Congratulations to the Eclipse 500 owners who have the confidence and self-respect to just take matters into their own hands and make things happen. We're excited for you and expect to hear great things about your new company.