Pratt & Whitney Cutting 1,700 More Jobs

Jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney is eliminating 1,700 additional jobs, the vast majority of them at its Connecticut-based manufacturing plants. The cuts are in addition to the nearly 3,500 jobs the company has been in the process of eliminating since it started a major restructuring and consolidation effort in 1998. A Pratt spokesman cited a dramatic drop-off in demand for jet engines over the last three years as the major reason for the downsizing. The company, which employs 31,000 people worldwide, will deliver fewer than 600 engines in 2000, compared with 800 in 1998, he said. About 1,500 cuts will come from the hourly work force, mostly in Connecticut. Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies Co. division, designs, manufactures and services jet engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies closed up $1.31 at $60.63 on the NYSE.