Pratt & Whitney Contemplating New Low-Cost Engine Family

Pratt & Whitney (Booth 8354) is eyeing a 1999 launch of an all-new family of low-cost engines in the 1,000- to 2,500-pound-thrust range. A derivative turboprop, and possibly a turboshaft, would come from a common core.

"We want to develop technology at a cost that is affordable-both to acquire and operate," said Pratt & Whitney Canada CEO David Kaplan. He said his company's market studies to date have indicated that low cost would be key to the market success of such new powerplants.

If a go-ahead is given as planned by the end of 1999, Kaplan predicted that the new engine family could enter service in less than three years from project launch.