Pratt & Whitney to Lay Off 303 Workers at Jet Engine Plant

Pratt & Whitney said Thursday that it will lay off 303 salaried workers by Aug. 31 at its jet engine plant in Palm Beach County as part of a larger plan to eliminate 599 jobs in Florida.

The company, a unit of United Technologies Corp. of Hartford, Conn., said 250 full-time employees and 53 contract employees will lose their jobs at the end of the month. Another 95 employees will lose their jobs by the end of next year, company spokesman Bob Carroll said.

In addition, the company said it expects to cut 51 more contract jobs next year. Another 150 jobs will be cut through attrition, the company said.

The layoffs in Pratt & Whitney’s government engine business are being made as a part of a company-wide effort to improve competitiveness, to save $100 million a year in Florida, he said.

“The business environment has changed. It has become extremely competitive,” Carroll said. “If we are going to preserve our share (of military contracts), we have to be competitive in going after those contracts.”

The company’s main industry rival is General Electric Co.

Last month, Pratt & Whitney announced plans to eliminate 1,009 jobs in 18 months at its main facility in East Hartford, Conn.

The company expects to announce a third round of cuts affecting manufacturing plants in Connecticut, Georgia and Maine, possibly by the end of the month.

Pratt & Whitney, which designs and tests jet engines at its Florida plant, is the largest private employer in Palm Beach with about 8,000 salaried and hourly workers.

Hourly workers at the facility were not affected by the cuts.