Story ID: 000
Tempus Aircraft Files for Bankruptcy
By: Samantha Cartaino
Caption: The company, which formerly served as the sales and service center for the Southwestern U.S. for Pilatus, canceled an auction with Starman Brothers.
Word Count: 239
Tempus Aircraft Sales and Service, which formerly served as the sales and service center for the Southwestern U.S. for Pilatus, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday. The company also canceled a short-notice auction with Starman Brothers Auctions in Englewood, Colorado, that was supposed to take place on Friday.

An email sent out by Starman on Thursday stated: “We received notice this afternoon at [approximately] 2 p.m. MST that [Tempus Aircraft] owners filed [for] federal bankruptcy [protection]. We were contracted by the receiver for the bank to liquidate the assets through state court. By virtue of the federal bankruptcy filing, federal courts take precedence over state courts. Therefore, the auction has been stayed or canceled until further notice.”

In February, Tempus relocated its Pilatus service center from Scottsdale Airport (SDL) to Falcon Field Airport (FFZ). However, Tom Aniello, v-p of marketing at Pilatus, told AIN that Pilatus cut ties with Tempus soon afterward because “they were not performing per our dealer agreement with them.” Pilatus named Cutter Aviation the new authorized sales and service center for Southwestern U.S. near the end of last month.

While the Tempus Aircraft company website is no longer functioning, there is a message on the former homepage that reads: “Tempus Aircraft Sales and Service has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as of April 26, 2018, 10 a.m. MST. You are still able to call (303) 799-9999 with any questions.”