Pratt & Whitney Canada (
PWC or
P&WC) is a Canadian
aircraft engine manufacturer. PWC's headquarters are in
Longueuil, Quebec, just outside
Montreal. It is a division of the larger US-based
Pratt & Whitney (P&W), itself a business unit of
United Technologies. United Technologies has given PWC a world mandate for smaller aircraft engines while P&W's US operations develop and manufacture larger engines.
Although PWC is a division of P&W, it has its own research, development and marketing as well as the manufacturing of its engines. Since the development of its famous
PT6 turboprop engine in the 1960s, PWC has dominated its sector of the world market for aircraft engines. The company currently has 9,200 employees worldwide, with 6,200 of them in Canada.
History
The
Canadian Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company, Ltd. was founded 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...
Read More