Endicott Company’s Private Jet Lease May Be Behind Layoffs

In a letter to a federal judge, the newly retired head of Endicott Interconnect Technologies has indicated at least one driving force behind hundreds of recent layoffs is a lawsuit filed in Federal Court by Canal Air over a private jet lease.

Former EIT chief operating officer, James McNamara earlier this month had asked the Federal Judge to dismiss the lawsuit, saying the company had been working to restructure its finances to produce a positive cash flow and avoid bankruptcy. The letter also indicated EIT currently has 605 employees. When it first went into business with the help of New York State financial assistance, EIT had some 2,000 workers.

Canal Air of Connecticut says the Endicott business had missed a close to $77,000 monthly lease payment for the private jet.  Figuring in an 18% interest rate and lawyer fees, the subsidiary of GE Capital has filed suit for $11.5 million.