Pratt & Whitney to cut 450 jobs

Commercial aviation facing steep declines as result of pandemic

Layoffs at Pratt & Whitney, which has been hit hard by declining airline travel due to COVID-19, will number about 450salaried workers in Connecticut, the jet engine manufacturer confirmed Wednesday.

Pratt spokesperson Jenny Dervin said the East Hartford-based manufacturer is not providing “state-specific numbers,” but confirmed details reported by East Hartford officials, including Mayor Marcia Leclerc.

“It is always difficult to hear that our state’s largest manufacturer will be reducing their workforce statewide by 454 salaried employees and that 381 of those will be from the East Hartford campus,’’ Leclerc said. “As Mayor I certainly understand that it has become necessary to resize the Pratt & Whitney workforce to maintain the fiscal health of the company that has been hard hit by the negative impact COVID19 has taken on the commercial aerospace industry.”

Pratt & Whitney, which has plants in East Hartford and Middletown, operates numerous plants elsewhere in the U.S. and globally. As recently as 2019 Pratt had about 13,000 workers in Middletown and East Hartford. About 3,300 workers are represented by the Machinists union and are not affected by the job cuts.

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Thejob eliminations, due to steep declines in commercial aviation as a result of the coronavirus, are part of a larger reduction of 15,000 employees of Waltham, Mass.-based parent company Raytheon Technologies Corp. detailed last month.

Pratt & Whitney said Tuesday it acted to “align with current and future business demand in an evolving environment.” Greg Hayes, chief executive officer of Raytheon Technologies, has said air travel business will not likely recover fully until 2023.

Reaction locally was sadness at the loss of jobs and the impact on those who are suddenly unemployed, but some relief the cuts weren’t deeper.

“The news a few weeks ago was very high,” state Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, said, referring to the announcement that 15,000 jobs would be axed by Raytheon in its Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace divisions worldwide. It represents about 7% of its total workforce.

The loss of 381 jobs in East Hartford is “still in myminda very big number,” said Anwar, whose district includes East Hartford.

Chris DiPentima, president of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, said the cuts represent less than 3% of Raytheon Technologies jobs in Connecticut overall.

In addition, he said, Pratt & Whitney is helped by its defense-related business that is unaffected by the downturn in commercial aviation. Connecticut, too, benefits from a diversified base that also includes medical and automotive parts manufacturing, DiPentima said.

A bigger concern among manufacturers, he said, is difficulty finding skilled workers.

Rep. John Larson, D1st District, said Connecticut’s congressional delegation helped win support for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp. and equipped with engines made by Pratt & Whitney. F-35 manufacturing supports more than 16,500 jobs in Connecticut and has an economic impact of more than $1.6 billion, he said.

Gov. Ned Lamont, speaking to reporters at the launch of a manufacturing program at Middletown High School, said he remains optimistic that manufacturing will ultimately resume growth in Connecticut.

“There are thousands of good paying manufacturing jobs right out there right now if you have the right skills,” he said. “Go for it right here.”

Not only is its manufacturing business off sharply, but Pratt & Whitney’s lucrative repair and maintenance business also has been hit hard by the downturn. Airlines defer maintenance by using up “green time” on engines, or early retirement for planes, allowing fleets to swap engines that still have time for use.

For planes still flying but nearing the end of engine life, swapping in “green-time engines” allows airlines to delay repairs.

The number of manufacturing jobs, prized for their skills and high pay, dropped to 154,700 in August in Connecticut, down about 5% since its recent peak in March, according to the Connecticut Department of Labor.