A top United Technologies Corp. executive is set to retire next year as the aerospace giant merges with a major defense contractor, UTC announced Tuesday.
Robert Leduc, president of UTC’s jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, will retire in early 2020 and be succeeded by Chris Calio, head of the commercial engine business.
Leduc was appointed to lead the East Hartford-based Pratt & Whitney in 2016 after heading helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft, which UTC sold in 2015 to defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp.
“I have decided to retire after more than 40 years with United Technologies Corp. where I have had opportunities that I never dreamt possible during that time,” Leduc said.
He has been in leadership positions at Hamilton Sundstrand, an aerospace and industrial manufacturer, and UTC Aerospace Systems. Hamilton Sundstrand became a part of UTC Aerospace in a reorganization after UTC bought Goodrich Corp., an aerospace manufacturer, in 2012.
Calio has led Pratt & Whitney’s commercial engines business since 2017.
Greg Hayes, chief executive officer at UTC, said Leduc played a “significant role in shaping Pratt & Whitney as we know it today,” leading the jet engine maker as UTC grappled with production problems related to its next-generation commercial jet engine.
Airbus suspended delivery in February 2018 of its A320neo jet following a problem with the Pratt & Whitney engines on Indigo.
The Indian airline announced at the Paris Air Show last week it’s instead ordering the jet engines valued at $20 billion from a joint venture of General Electric Co. and France’s Safran SA.
Analyst Stephen Tusa of J.P Morgan wrote in a recent note that the IndiGo competition loss “hung over the show, though feedback from both the framer and the airline itself suggests this was a commercial decision, not a technical one, and the supply chain is decidedly more bullish on the outlook” for the geared turbofan engine than two years ago.
Pratt & Whitney has a backlog of 8,000 jet engines, promising tremendous profitability for years to come. The UTC subsidiary employs about 40,000 workers and posted 2018 sales of $19.4 billion, up 20 percent from the previous year.
UTC announced June 9 it will merge with Raytheon Co., forming Raytheon Technologies Corp. based in the Boston area. Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace, which was established with UTC’s $30 billion acquisition of aerospace manufacturer Rockwell Collins Inc. will form UTC’s aerospace portion of the Raytheon business.
UTC next year is spinning off elevator manufacturer Otis and heating and cooling equipment maker Carrier.
Stephen Singer can be reached at ssinger@courant.com.
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