AIN Staff

On Tuesday, Eclipse 500 empennage assembly supplier Hampson Aerospace filed a <a href="http://www.ainalerts.com/ainalerts/alerts/FAX_1115.pdf" target="_blank">lawsuit</a> against Eclipse Aviation in the New Mexico Second District Court for failing to pay Hampson “in accordance with the schedule and under the terms set out” in a contract. As per the agreement, Eclipse must purchase a minimum number of shipsets from Hampson or pay for that number each calendar year by November 30. The lawsuit says Eclipse has made only a partial payment (in March) but has refused to pay the amount due by the end of this month, even after Hampson agreed to revise the payment schedule. Eclipse is now claiming the agreement “was procured by fraud” and told the <a href="http://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro/261972metro11-15-07.htm&gt;&lt;i&gt;Albuquerque Journal&lt;/i" target="_blank"></a> that the assemblies Hampson supplied had nonconforming components, alignment problems and poor riveting, among other problems. Hampson finance director Howard Kimberly told AIN, “We don’t enter into litigation lightly. Eclipse has forced us to take this action, but we hope it will be resolved amicably.” He also took exception to Eclipse’s claim that the empennage assemblies were not up to quality standards: “We’re a first-tier supplier to Boeing, Airbus and Hawker Beechcraft, and we’ve recently been selected to supply the empennage for the HondaJet. Honda has the most demanding quality standards, so I’ll let you read between the lines here.”

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Another Supplier Scuffle at Eclipse Aviation

On Tuesday, Eclipse 500 empennage assembly supplier Hampson Aerospace filed a <link http://www.ainalerts.com/ainalerts/alerts/FAX_1115.pdf _blank>lawsuit</