200 Salaried Jobs Lost

Engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney announced Wednesday that it was immediately laying off 200 salaried workers due to the faltering aviation manufacturing market.

The restructuring was announced back in March. The engine builder is a subsidiary of United Technologies, which has said it will cut its overall global workforce by 5 percent, or about 11,600 jobs, according to numerous media reports.

Pratt & Whitney recently announced a $26 million order for its V2500 engines from Israir. There were numerous similar announcements at The Paris Air Show. Its Rocketdyne division made news last week for boosting the joint LRO/LCROSS mission to the moon for NASA. “Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne played a key role in placing the first human on the moon in 1969, and now has powered the first mission to support NASA’s plan to return humans to the moon,” said Jim Maus, director, expendable propulsion programs, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.  “We are proud of our continuing role in the exploration and understanding of the moon.”

The job cuts represent less than one percent of Pratt & Whitney's overall workforce of 37,000, AP reported. The reorganization came due to a decline in engine orders, as well as the company's maintenance and repair business.

FMI www.pratt-whitney.com