Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations.[3] It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies). Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially airliners) and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut.[4] The company is the world's second largest commercial aircraft engine manufacturer, with a 35% market share as of 2020.[5] In addition to aircraft engines, Pratt & Whitney manufactures gas turbine engines for industrial use, marine propulsion, and power generation. In 2017, the company reported that it supported more than 11,000 customers in 180 countries around the world.
History
Early history
In April 1925, Frederick Rentschler, an Ohio native and former executive at Wright Aeronautical, was determined to start an aviation-related business of his own.[6] His social network included Edward Deeds, another prominent Ohioan of the early aviation industry, and Frederick's brother Gordon Rentschler, both of whom were on the board of Niles Bement Pond, then one of the largest machine tool corporations in the world. Frederick Rentschler approached these men as he sought capital and assets for his new venture. Deeds and G. Rentschler persuaded the board of Niles Bement Pond that their Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool (P&WMT) subsidiary of Hartford, Connecticut, should provide the funding and location to build a new aircraft engine being developed by Rentschler, George J. Mead, and colleagues, all formerly of Wright Aeronautical.[6] Conceived and designed by Mead,[6] the new engine would be a large, air-cooled, radial design. Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool was going through a period of self-revision at the time to prepare itself for the post-World War I era, discontinuing old product lines and incubating new ones.[6]
The R-1340 was followed by another very successful engine, the R-985 Wasp Junior.[7] Eventually a whole Wasp series was developed. Both engines are still in use in agricultural aircraft around the world and produce more power than their original design criteria.
George Mead soon led the next step in the field of large, state-of-the-art, air-cooled, radial aircraft engines (which the Wasp dominated) when Pratt & Whitney released its R-1690 Hornet. It was basically "a bigger Wasp".
In 1929, Rentschler ended his association with Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool and merged Pratt & Whitney Aircraft with Boeing and other companies to form the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC). His agreement allowed him to carry the Pratt & Whitney name with him to his new corporation. Only five years later, in 1934, the federal government of U.S. banned common ownership of airplane manufacturers and airlines. Pratt & Whitney was merged with UATC's other manufacturing interests east of the Mississippi River as United Aircraft Corporation, with Rentschler as president. In 1975, United Aircraft Corporation became United Technologies.
21st century
In October 2014, Pratt & Whitney was awarded a $592 million contract with the Department of Defense (DoD) to supply 36 F135 engines for the F-35 fighter.[8]
In January 2017, ten employees, including the head of the F135 engine program, reportedly left the company after expenses incurred to transport South Korean officials to the company's West Palm Beach, Florida facility in 2012 were deemed unethical.[9]
In 2020, United Technologies merged with Raytheon Company to form Raytheon Technologies, with Pratt & Whitney becoming one of the new corporation's four main subsidiaries.[10]
In November 2022, Pratt & Whitney was awarded a contract for nearly $4.4 billion by the US DoD to build 100 jet engines for the U.S. military's Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps branches.[11][12]
Headquarters
Pratt & Whitney is headquartered in East Hartford, Connecticut, and also has plants in Londonderry, New Hampshire; Springdale, Arkansas; Columbus, Georgia; Middletown, Connecticut; Middletown, Pennsylvania; Dallas, Texas; Palm Beach County, Florida; North Berwick, Maine; Aguadilla, Puerto Rico;[18] Asheville, North Carolina; and Bridgeport, West Virginia.
Pratt & Whitney holds the naming rights for the home stadium for the University of Connecticut Huskies football team, Rentschler Field, which is located adjacent to Pratt & Whitney's East Hartford, Connecticut, campus, on Pratt's company-owned former airfield of the same name. In 2015, the stadium was renamed to Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in time for the 2015–2016 University of Connecticut football season.[19]
Divisions
Pratt & Whitney is a business unit of aerospace conglomerate RTX Corporation, making it a sister company to Collins Aerospace and Raytheon. It is also involved in two major joint ventures, the Engine Alliance with GE which manufactures engines for the Airbus A380, and International Aero Engines company with Rolls-Royce, MTU Aero Engines, and the Japanese Aero Engines Corporation which manufactures engines for the Airbus A320 and the McDonnell Douglas MD-90 aircraft.
Commercial engines
Pratt & Whitney's large commercial engines power more than 25 percent of the world's passenger aircraft fleet and serve more than 800 customers in 160 countries. With over 16,000 large commercial engines installed today, Pratt & Whitney provides power to hundreds of airlines and operators, from narrow-bodied airplanes to wide-bodied jumbo jetliners. In June 2007, Pratt & Whitney's fleet of large commercial engines surpassed 1 billion flight hours of service.
Global Material Solutions
Products
Reciprocating engines
Turbojet engines
Turbofan engines
Adaptive/variable cycle engines
Turboprop/turboshaft engines
Aeroderivative industrial and marine gas turbines
- Pratt & Whitney FT3 from JT3C and JT3D
- Pratt & Whitney FT4 from J75
- Pratt & Whitney FT8
See also
- List of aircraft engine manufacturers
- Mirabel Aerospace Centre
- Pierre Henry (painter)—Past Vice President of Communications with Pratt & Whitney
- Turkish Engine Center
Bibliography
External links
- Japan Turbine Technologies, a subsidiary of Pratt & Whitney
- Finding aid for the Pratt & Whitney Company Records at the University of Connecticut Archives and Special Collections
References
- RTX Reports 2024 Results and Announces 2025 Outlook United Technologies, retrieved 2025-03-21^
- United Technologies Annual Report 2017 UTC, retrieved 23 May 2018^
- David W. Wragg. A Dictionary of Aviation Osprey, 1973^