Means Closure Of Current Plattsburgh, NY And Quebec
Centers
Pratt & Whitney Canada announced
this week it will concentrate its flight test operations in a new
world-class center at Montreal-Mirabel International Airport. The
new global hub represents an investment of about $90 million.
"Establishing this single, state-of-the-art facility will
improve our competitiveness and support flight testing for the
complete range of Pratt & Whitney engines, from turboprops to
turbofans up to 90,000 pounds of thrust," said Benoît
Brossoit, Senior Vice President, Service Centers & Operations,
P&WC. "We have recently won several competitions to supply
engines for new aircraft, and we need to evolve our flight test
operations to support this growth."
Flight test operations positions currently located in
Plattsburgh, NY and Saint-Hubert, Quebec will be transferred to
Mirabel. This will create more than 75 highly skilled jobs at the
new facility, including test engineers and specialized technicians.
An additional 100 indirect jobs are also expected to be created for
the construction of the new facility and the maintenance of
aircraft.
P&WC’s new Mirabel flight test center will require the
temporary use of an existing facility, starting in the fall of
2008, while the construction of a new 164,000-square-foot facility
is completed. This new facility will feature two bays for the
company’s test aircraft, allowing for the testing of a full
range of development engines.
P&WC will operate two Boeing B747SP test aircraft by the
time the new flight test facility in Mirabel is completed in the
spring of 2009. These aircraft are currently being upgraded and
modified with the necessary test equipment.
Montreal-Mirabel International Airport, a 24/7 all-cargo
airport, is located in a non-urban area and has a runway capable of
handling very large aircraft such as the Boeing 747. "Mirabel gives
us access to efficient world-class infrastructures to meet our
growing flight test needs for years to come, and is also close to a
critical mass of major aerospace companies," said Brossoit.
P&WC’s corporate shuttle service will continue to
operate out of St-Hubert Airport, where it is enjoying a steady
increase in employee passenger volume. The company’s
St-Hubert plant has also recently been expanded with the opening of
a new assembly line for PT6T Twin-Pac helicopter engines. It is one
of the company’s major engine overhaul and repair centers,
concentrating on PW100 and PT6 engine families, and employs about
800 people.