Pratt & Whitney Canada

What It Is: Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) makes turbine engines for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, including business jets. It is a division of Pratt & Whitney (P&W), a United Technologies subsidiary that manufactures commercial jet engines. P&WC produces more than a dozen families of turbines, and more than 60,000 of its powerplants are in operation worldwide.

How It Grew: James Young founded the business in 1928 as the Canadian Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Co. to service P&W Wasp radial engines. By World War II, it was assembling the engines, and it began producing them in the early 1950s as it commenced a development program leading to its first turbine engines: the JT15, which debuted on the Lockheed JetStar in 1960, and the PT-6, which was used on the Beechcraft King Air C90 in 1963. In the 1970s,

P&WC introduced the JT15D (powering the Citation I) and the PW100 (regional airline turboprop) family, and the company rebranded as Pratt & Whitney Canada in 1975. In the 1980s came the PW200 (for light twin helicopters), PW300 (for midsize Citations, Falcons, Hawkers, and Learjets), and the PW500 families (for light to midsize platforms, including the Citation Bravo and Phenom 300). 

Early in this century, the company’s PW600 launched VLJs, powering the Eclipse 500, Citation Mustang, and Phenom 100, and P&WC introduced the PurePower PW800 series, which Gulfstream selected in 2014 to power the G500/600. 

What It Offers: 

Business aircraft engines. The PW300 series offer 4,700- to 8,000-pound thrust for midsize jets; PW500s provide 2,900- to 4,500-pound thrust for light to midsize jets; the PW600 turbofans deliver 900- to 3,000-pound thrust for light jets; and the PurePower PW800 series turbofans offer engines in the 10,000- to 20,000-pound thrust class for long-range jets. 

General aviation engines. Some three dozen PT6A turboprop engines, available in small, medium, and large series, power more than 100 platforms. 

Helicopter engines. P&WC offers five turboshaft engine families: PT6C, PW200, PW210, PT6T, and PT6B.

Repair and overhaul. The company provides worldwide service and support for its engines.

Notable Achievements: The company has delivered more than 50,000 PT6 engines, which are used on more than 130 airframes and have revolutionized business aviation. The PW300 introduced FADEC technology to business aircraft engines. In 2017 P&WC passed the 100,000-engines-produced mark.

Recent News: At Heli-Expo this month, P&WC introduced a Certified Preowned engine program for used aircraft, an Eagle Service Plan for single-helicopter operators, and a Fleet Service Plan for smaller helicopter fleets.

FAST FACTS:

Founded: 1928

HQ: Longueuil, Quebec, Canada

Employees: About 10,000

Revenue: About $4.1 billion in 2017

President: John Saabas

Website: pwc.ca