Pratt & Whitney Cuts Salaried Workers as Commercial Aviation Reels from COVID-19

Jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, reeling from the downturn in commercial aviation caused by COVID-19, said Tuesday it’s laying off salaried workers.

The East Hartford subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies Corp. did not say how many workers or at which of its work sites in the U.S. and globally will be affected, but notifications will be completed by Thursday. In Connecticut, Pratt & Whitney makes engines in East Hartford and Middletown.

Salaried workers could include administrative employees, engineers and others. Workers who are members of the machinists union are not affected.

In a statement, Pratt & Whitney said it made the “extremely difficult but necessary decision to implement an involuntary separation program” for salaried workers. It cited reduced commercial business due to COVID-19.

“This has forced us to take further actions to align with current and future business demand in an evolving environment,” the manufacturer said.

Tens of thousands of airline jobs could disappear if Congress and President Donald Trump fail to reach agreement on a second round of economic stimulus for the industry. Since the pandemic hit, thousands of flight attendants, baggage handlers, gate agents and others have received some financial help from Washington as part of $25 billion in grants and loans to the nation’s airlines. Companies agreed to not lay off employees through Sept. 30.

Raytheon Technologies Chief Executive Officer Greg Hayes said last month the commercial aviation and defense giant is cutting 15,000 jobs, or about 7.7% of its global workforce of nearly 200,000. The reductions are limited to Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace, a manufacturer of airline cockpit equipment, flight data components and other parts and materials.

Military sales remain robust due to increased Pentagon spending.

The April-to-June quarter was the worst three-month period for airlines, which faced an “unprecedented loss of revenue,” the International Air Transport Association said in a recent report. Revenue was down about 80% compared with the same quarter in 2019 “with almost full grounding of the passenger fleet despite strong cargo revenues,” the organization said.

As a result, airlines “turned their focus on cutting expenses during this period,” IATA said. But operating costs were reduced by 50% year-over-year due to costs such as labor and maintenance costs, it said.

Raytheon Technologies has gradually ratcheted up cost-cutting as the coronavirus drags on, even spiking in recent months. In mid-April, less than two weeks after its launch as a result of the combination of United Technologies Corp. and Raytheon Co., the conglomerate announced pay cuts and furloughs.

Second-quarter sales at Pratt & Whitney fell 30%, to $3.6 billion, from the same period last year and posted a rare loss of $151 million.

However, Pratt & Whitney posted an 11% increase in military sales, specifically engine production for the F-35 fighter jet manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp., in the April-to-June quarter. It also reported a rise in parts sales and servicing on fighter jet platforms.

Raytheon Technologies has scheduled its third-quarter financial release for Oct. 27.

Stephen Singer can be reached at [email protected]

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