🔒Pratt & Whitney engine sales boost RTX profits despite tariff impacts

RTX Corp., which includes East Hartford engine-maker Pratt & Whitney, has reported first-quarter profit of $2.06 billion. Pratt saw sales of $8.2 billion in the quarter, up 11% from the same quarter a year ago. The company says that increase was driven by strength in the commercial aftermarket segment where sales were up 19%, and in military engines which rose 7%, driven by higher production of the F135 fighter jet engine. Pratt’s military business was recently awarded a Pentagon contract of over $3 billion for F135 production. Sales of commercial engines dipped slightly in the quarter, but RTX officials say they expect growth in large commercial engine delivery for the full year, despite uncertainty over airline travel. RTX CEO Chris Calio noted some contract wins this year for Pratt’s geared turbofan (GTF) engine, including 44 new aircraft for VietJet Air, and 46 aircraft at Finnair. During the quarter, GTF-powered aircraft surpassed 2,700 deliveries, according to the company, with Pratt powering about 45% of Airbus A320 deliveries. The GTF program recently marked 10 years in service, and Pratt says it has more than 50 million flight hours. The company also received aircraft certification of the next generation GTF Advantage engine, which will enter into service later this year. Pratt’s adjusted operating profit of $711 million for the quarter was up $121 million from the same time last year. Increased profits were partially offset by higher operational costs including the impact of tariffs. Executives say they’re closely watching the fallout from the Supreme Court case that struck down the Trump administration’s first tariff regime. “We ​paid ​about ​$500 ​million ​associated ​with ​that ​kind ​of ​tariff,” Calio said. “Obviously ​the ​government ​is ​in ​the ​process ​of starting ​the ​refund ​process ​and ​as ​we ​gain ​more ​clarity ​into ​that, ​we ​too ​will submit ​requests ​​for ​our ​refunds ​there.” The company said it continues to make strides in both automation and in harnessing data analytics. Pratt's maintenance facility in Singapore has been developing robotics that reduce assembly time of parts by 50%. “This type of investment has supported an 80% increase in output at the facility over the last two years and we're actively deploying these capabilities across our sites,” Calio said. For the full year outlook, Pratt expects sales to grow by mid single digits and is looking for operating profit growth between $225 million and $325 million.