Companies

Pratt & Whitney upbeat despite failure to win COMAC contract

By Wang Ying (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-04-08 14:46

SHANGHAI - Despite the failure to become the engine supplier for China's homegrown commercial aircraft, Connecticut-based jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney remains upbeat about its participation in China's aviation market.

David Hess, president of Pratt & Whitney, told China Daily on Thursday that the company is looking at a broad range of cooperative opportunities with Chinese aviation players, including the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd (COMAC) and Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC)

However, Hess is still bitter about the missed opportunity to be part of China's own commercial aircraft project, which is scheduled to make its maiden flight in 2014. In the end of 2009, CFM International (a joint venture between Safran of France and General Electric of the United States) defeated Pratt & Whitney to win the contract to supply engines for the plane project, a contract initially worth $10 billion.

"We respect COMAC's decision, and we also know that it will develop many new aircraft in the future, so we continue to meet with COMAC and study possible applications of the next-generation product family on near-future aircraft," Hess said.

COMAC is going to be a very important player in the global aerospace business with Boeing and Airbus, Hess said, and this is all about the future. "We will continue to work with COMAC, to look for ways to support their growth in this industry," he added.

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So far, Pratt & Whitney has received orders for more than 1,200 PurePower PW1000G engines worldwide, for example from IndiGo, India's largest low-cost carrier, which chose the engine to power its fleet of 150 new Airbus A320neo aircraft, one of the largest engine orders in recent aviation history.

According to the company, the engine cuts fuel use by more than 16 percent and maintenance costs by 20 percent, is 50 percent quieter than current engines and cuts emissions by 50 percent. The engine is estimated to save about $1.5 million annually for each aircraft, Hess said.

A unit of the US-based industrial conglomerate United Technologies Corp, Pratt & Whitney registered $12.9 billion in revenue in 2010, $600 million, or 4.65 percent, of which came from the Chinese market.

Pratt & Whitney expects its growth in China to be consistent with the growth rate of China's aviation business, which is forecast to be about 7 percent a year. "We would expect our growth rates be at least that big in China," said Hess.

Xie Liping, senior managing director of United Technologies Corp Aerospace China, said that China is a great market, so Pratt & Whitney will continue to grow by selling products and other platforms to Chinese airline customers, develop its engine center in China, work with COMAC and AVIC on the original equipment manufacturer side, and explore the partnership with AVIC.

According to Xie, Pratt & Whitney has been working with AVIC for the last 30 years by producing some of the most complex parts in China. In 2010, the total sourcing amount reached $80 million in China, and that amount is expected to grow to about $200 million by 2014.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed United Technologies reported revenue of $54.3 billion in 2010, of which, $3.8 billion came from China.