Aircraft engine builder Pratt & Whitney announced it completed the second phase of an ongoing remodeling at its Middletown, Conn., engine plant. The specific achievement involved completing a streamlined assembly operation for the V2500 engine, a commercial jet engine supplied to Airbus for its A32xeo family, to Boeing for the MD-90, and to Embraer for the KC-390.
Pratt & Whitney has not announced the cost of the four-part rehabilitation project, which involves optimizing production space to produce the V2500 and new PW1100G-JM commercial jet engines, as well as to increase capacity for the F135 engine. The latter is a military jet engine that Pratt & Whitney builds for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter.
The first phase in the revamp program was completed in February. Pratt & Whitney indicted it plans to start production soon for the PurePower® PW1100G-JM engines, which will be supplied to Airbus for its A320neo, a new version of the narrow-body jet that will debut in 2015
"Pratt & Whitney is transforming its global operations,” stated Joe Sylvestro, v.p. - Manufacturing Operations. “We're investing hundreds of millions of dollars to prepare for our ramp in production for our Next Generation Product Family, including significant investments in our Connecticut facilities."
