Pratt & Whitney Canada in Full Momentum With the Revolutionary PW800 Engine Family.

Business Editors

Paris Air Show 

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 19, 2001

Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. (P&WC) is bringing a game changer to the marketplace with its new family of geared turbofan engines, the PW800.

Leveraging the vast experience and advanced technology from the Pratt & Whitney family, the PW800 will set new standards in performance and aircraft level operating economics in the industry.

"We believe that geared turbofans are the next big step in engine performance, efficiency and economy for the regional airline market," says Gilles Ouimet, President and Chief Executive Officer of P&WC. "The PW800 represents a new family of environmentally friendly `green' engines that will burn less fuel, be quieter and cleaner while requiring far fewer parts than current engines."

Spanning the 10,000 to 20,000 lbs. thrust range, the PW800 will power the next-generation 50- to 100+-passenger regional jets and future large business aircraft. The new PW800 family will complete the Pratt & Whitney product line by bridging the gap between the PW300 series for small regional and business jets, in the 5,000 to 8,000 lbs. thrust range, and the PW6000 family, in the 20,000+ lbs. thrust range.

"We see the evolution of the requirements for the next-generation regional and business aircraft to be essentially driven by their operating economics as well as environmental concerns," says Mr. Ouimet. "Accordingly, the PW800 will bring fundamental change to the market by delivering the best technology and highest value to our customers at the lowest cost."

The PW800's demonstrator, the Advanced Technology Fan Integrator (ATFI), completed its first run in March, setting the stage for the flight test program in the coming year. The low spool technologies and operability demonstration are currently well advanced, and a core technologies demonstration for the ATFI is being planned for the second half of 2002.

Mr. Ouimet says that discussions are ongoing with potential aircraft manufacturers for the PW800. "We are very excited about the interest it has generated already and anticipate the product to be available within 36 months of a program 'go.'"

The power plant will burn approximately 10 per cent less fuel than competitive engines, with very low emissions aiming beyond Zurich 5 requirements to cater to the more stringent limits anticipated in the future. Its noise level will target a -28 dB cumulative noise margin relative to Stage 3 and will also be comfortably below Stage 4 limitations.

The PW800 program and its demonstrator, the ATFI, is being undertaken by the total Pratt & Whitney Group, leveraging the strengths of both Pratt & Whitney Canada's extensive regional airline experience together with that of Large Commercial Engines' with the large carriers. Also participating as partners are MTU Aero Engines from Germany, supplying the low-pressure turbine for the engine, and FiatAvio from Italy, responsible for the fan drive gearbox assembly, intermediate case and accessory gearbox.

The PW800 engine family features a reduction gearbox that allows the fan to run at a slower speed than the low spool compressor and turbine, permitting all components to operate at their optimum speeds for maximum efficiency. The slower fan speed contributes to very low noise levels while the higher turbine and LP compressor speeds lead to an engine configuration with fewer stages and smaller turbines to do the same work. Having fewer parts relative to a conventional, ungeared design will significantly reduce in-service operating costs for our customers.

This new engine family also features an advanced high performance fan design, which brings the dual advantage of better performance derived from increased fan flow capacity and reduced noise levels, enabling the power plant to meet the increasingly strict rules imposed by airports around the world.

P&WC, based in Longueuil, Quebec, is a world leader in aviation engines powering business and regional aircraft and helicopters. The company also offers advanced engines for industrial applications. P&WC's operations and service network span the globe. In 2000, sales were in excess of $2.4 billion CDN. P&WC is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation, a high-technology company based in Hartford, Connecticut.