Layoffs coming at jet-engine maker Pratt & Whitney

Workers assemble a PW500 engine destined for a Cesna Citation at the Pratt & Whitney plant in Longueuil, Que., in December 2006.(Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)Aircraft engine maker Pratt & Whitney Canada is poised to lay off as many as 1,000 employees worldwide in the coming months.

Employees were told on Wednesday that layoffs are on the horizon, company spokesperson Pierre Boisseau said.

The company employs 10,000 people around the world, including 7,000 people in Canada. Most of the company's workforce is in the province of Quebec.

"Given the current economic context, we are putting measures into place to reduce costs and to reduce our global workforce," Boisseau told CBC News.

"We are talking about reducing our workforce by up to approximately 1,000 employees around the world."

'The business aviation market is the one most impacted by this current [economic] situation. This is an area we are involved in.'— Pierre Boisseau, Pratt & Whitney spokesperson

Each of the company's divisions is now under review and decisions will be made over the coming months as to the extent and location of the layoffs, he said.

The job cuts are expected to affect employees in manufacturing as well as those who handle the company's administrative and customer-service operations. The division that makes the engines for business jets is the most vulnerable.

"The business aviation market is the one most impacted by this current [economic] situation. This is an area we are involved in," said Boisseau.

Pratt & Whitney Canada makes jet engines for Bombardier and Cessna, two airplane makers that have announced their own cuts due to a slowdown in the aerospace industry.

'Businesses, they aren't very anxious to buy new planes.'— Jacques Roy, professor at HEC Montréal

It was only a matter of time before Pratt & Whitney would follow the lead of other aerospace companies and announce layoffs, said Jacques Roy, a transportation management professor at the HEC Montréal business school.

"Businesses, they aren't very anxious to buy new planes. They want to cut down on expenses and this is an easy expense to cut," said Roy.

"Pratt and Whitney Canada specializes in the engines used in those business jets. Therefore, they are hit hard."

Cuts likely won't affect R&D, Mirabel project

News of layoffs comes just months after Pratt & Whitney Canada announced plans for a $575.3 million plant in Mirabel, north of Montreal.

The plant is supposed to assemble and test cleaner, quieter and more efficient jet engines, creating 565 jobs. It is also supposed to be the global hub for Pratt & Whitney’s flight test operations.

As the company rolls out its restructuring plan over the coming months, it will be important for Pratt & Whitney to keep a strong presence in research and development, Roy said.

"It is important for a company such as Pratt & Whitney Canada to keep on investing in research and development so that several months from now, when the times are better, they have new products to put on the market," he said.

Boisseau said the money is still in place for the Mirabel project.

Pratt & Whitney's diverse operations will help it weather the turbulence facing the aerospace industry, he said.

"Helicopters, regional aviation and general aviation are still going relatively well. This is, in a way, what is preventing us from taking other measures," said Boisseau.

As part of its overall cost-reduction plan, the company is imposing a hiring freeze and a summer shutdown at some facilities. Employees are also going to be asked to take as many as 10 unpaid days off work.

Pratt & Whitney Canada is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation, a high-technology company based in Hartford, Conn.