Pratt & Whitney to Cut 4,800 Workers

United Technologies Corp., citing a further slowdown in jet engine sales, said Friday its Pratt & Whitney unit will cut an additional 4,800 jobs, bringing the division’s total layoffs to 7,200 by mid-1993.

In January, United Technologies, which builds everything from Otis elevators to Carrier air conditioners, said it was laying off 2,400 Pratt & Whitney workers as part of a companywide restructuring costing $1.28 billion.

“Since (January) industry conditions, and particularly the outlook for commercial airplane deliveries in 1993, have become worse,” United Technologies President J. G. O’Connor said in a letter to employees.

United Technologies said that, effective Friday, 695 workers were laid off at its Pratt & Whitney plants in Connecticut and Maine.

The Hartford, Conn.-based firm said over-capacity in the industry and resulting fare wars are forcing carriers to reschedule large commercial airplane and engine orders. It expects a 1993 shop load that is 21% lower than this year.