History
The Canadian Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company, Ltd. was found in November 1928 to act as a service centre for P&W aircraft engines. During World War II, it assembled Pratt & Whitney Wasp series engines built in the U.S. In 1952, the production of Wasp engines was transferred to P&WC so P&W could concentrate on developing jet engines.
In the late 1950s, a team of 12 P&WC engineers began the development of the first small turbine engine in Canada, the PT6. The first example was delivered to a customer in 1963.
In 1962, the company was renamed United Aircraft of Canada, and assumed its current name in 1975.
Since 1982, Pratt and Whitney Canada has invested over eight billion dollars in R&D. In the past five years the company has invested on average 400 million dollars each year (Pratt and Whitney, 2012). In 2001, when the company’s production fell 15%, then 25% and finally 45%, Pratt and Whitney was forced to make many cutbacks, however it continued to invest between 350 and 400 million dollars annually. This investment in the company’s future, according to former Pratt and Whitney president Alain Bellemare, is why the company found its rhythm after the downward turn in the aerospace industry (Bérard, 2005).
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