Raytheon’s Pratt begins job cuts as virus guts jet-engine demand

Raytheon Technologies Corp. began shedding salaried workers at its Pratt & Whitney jet-engine unit as the company prepares for a long slump in sales and repair work.

Most of the involuntary cuts will occur over the next few days and affect workers in the U.S., Canada and Poland, Pratt said in an internal memo Tuesday seen by Bloomberg News. Additional reductions are planned for the coming weeks and most of the terminations will be completed by the end of the year.

The job losses are part of Raytheon Chief Executive Officer Greg Hayes’s plan to shed some 15,000 posts in the company’s commercial aerospace units, which include Pratt and avionics supplier Collins Aerospace. Pratt rival General Electric Co. has also made deep cuts at its jet-engine operation amid an unprecedented downturn in air travel sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.

The salaried reductions were necessary in light of declines in the commercial aviation due to the pandemic, Pratt said in a statement. The company declined to specify how many workers would be affected.

Third-quarter repair work at the Collins Aerospace unit declined 50% through August from a year earlier, while orders for commercial spare parts slumped 65%, Hayes said last month.

Shop visits for Pratt & Whitney fell 60% in the same period. Airlines have grounded jets and pared flight schedules, damping demand for engine overhauls and spare parts.