| | Saturday July 31, 2010 |
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| UTC's Chief Says Canceling F-22 Could Cost 3,000 Jobs In State |
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Connecticut could lose between 2,000 and 3,000 jobs, mostly at United Technologies Corp., if the Pentagon cancels production of the F-22 fighter jet, UTC said Monday. 16-03-2009 - Connecticut -- The cuts would be predominantly at Pratt & Whitney and Hamilton Sundstrand, but would also include job losses at in-state suppliers, a UTC spokesman said, clarifying remarks made earlier in the day by Louis Chênevert, UTC's chief executive.
Any F-22-related cuts at UTC would be in addition to the 11,600 job reductions that UTC said it will make worldwide this year.
About 1,500 of those cuts, announced last week, will be in Connecticut, Chênevert told The Courant on Thursday. They would be mostly white-collar jobs at Pratt and Hamilton.
The F-22, made by Lockheed Martin, is among the major defense programs on the hot seat as President Barack Obama looks to cut spending on military hardware. Defense Secretary Robert Gates opposes buying more than the 183 aircraft already built or on order.
Pratt builds F-119 engines for the F-22, including assembly at its Middletown plant. Hamilton makes electrical power generation systems.
Chênevert, who spoke to the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce in Middletown, did not say how many UTC jobs outside Connecticut would be affected by cancellation of the F-22.
UTC, which employs 26,000 in Connecticut, does not typically release employment figures related to specific engine or aircraft programs, saying, instead, that overall employment does not depend on any one program.
Union officials in East Hartford and Middletown said Monday that they have had no discussions with the company about the scope of possible cuts connected to the F-22. UTC employs just under 4,000 Machinist union members at Pratt and about 1,000 at Hamilton Sundstrand.
Source: The Hartford Courant
Photo: USAF
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