Eclipse Aviation has scored a first-round knockout in a lawsuit filed against it this September by PA Aviace, following U.S. District Judge Christina Armijo’s November 10 denial of Aviace’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the Albuquerque manufacturer of the Eclipse 500 very light jet (VLJ). Aviace filed for voluntary dismissal of its suit three days later.
Aviace sought to have Eclipse barred from refusing to deliver the first Aviace aircraft in a 112-airplane order, to refrain from reassigning delivery positions held by Aviace or expending any of Aviace’s initial deposit. Aviace, a Swiss firm that placed the order in March 2002, alleged that Eclipse violated the sales contract by wrongfully requiring a “six-month production deposit” on the first airplane in the order, then canceling delivery of that aircraft for non-payment of the deposit, which Eclipse in its response to the suit stated is due for every aircraft on the order book when its assembly is about to begin.
