Pratt & Whitney Cuts Jobs

Jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney said it plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs in Connecticut by 2011, transferring engine repair work to the Southeastern state of Georgia and Asia in a cost-cutting initiative.

This subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (UTX - Analyst Report) will close down its Cheshire, Connecticut, plant by early 2011. From the second quarter of 2010, it will begin shifting some operations from the East Hartford facility to Columbus, Georgia, Singapore and Japan. Pratt & Whitney, which is suffering due to sagging demand from airlines, employs 35,000 workers worldwide, with 11,000 in Connecticut.

The company rejected an offer that the Machinists union valued at more than $80 million in wage and other concessions and a state plan proposing $100 million in economic assistance over five years. Pratt & Whitney has vastly scaled back operations in the state since the 1960s, when more than 20,000 workers were employed.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, industrial gas turbines and space propulsion systems. The company’s 38,577 employees support more than 9,000 customers in 180 countries around the world. It builds engines for front line fighters, like the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, as well as the C-17 Globemaster III military transport.

United Technologies provides high technology products and services to the building systems and aerospace industries worldwide. Its Otis, Carrier and UTC Fire & Security (collectively referred to as the commercial businesses) serve customers in the commercial and residential property industries worldwide. Carrier also serves commercial, industrial, transport refrigeration and food service equipment customers.

Pratt & Whitney, Hamilton Sundstrand and Sikorsky (together called the aerospace businesses) primarily serve commercial and government customers in both the original equipment and aftermarket parts and services markets of the aerospace industry; Hamilton Sundstrand and Pratt & Whitney also serve customers in certain industrial markets. Its major rivals include General Electric Co. (GE - Analyst Report) and Boeing Co. (BA - Analyst Report).

We currently have a Neutral recommendation on UTX.

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