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Over the past two years Pratt & Whitney has invested more than $40 million into our Centers of Excellence (CoE) across engineering, digital transformation, supply chain operations, and customer service, says Ashmita Sethi, country head & president, Pratt & Whitney, an RTX business, India read more
 "Work being done by more than 6000 RTX employees in India will help shape the future of flight")
Ashmita Sethi, country head & president, Pratt & Whitney India
With rapid fleet and passenger growth being witnessed in India, do you see a focus towards sustainable flying?
This is an incredibly exciting time for commercial aviation in India. With rapid fleet and passenger growth and historic orders across the board, airlines are taking the lead on securing the 2000+ airplanes India will need in the next two decades. This rapid fleet growth comes with the need for efficient and sustainable aircraft engines.
Operating economics and fuel efficiency are the key to success in India. However, sustainability remains a key factor for airlines, and they look to what engine makers like Pratt & Whitney are doing to help them meet the industry’s commitment to net zero by 2050.
Across our portfolio, Pratt & Whitney already makes the world’s most efficient engines for single-aisle aircraft. We continue to drive advancements on our sustainability roadmap, and we expect the Indian aviation industry to participate and benefit from these advancements.
What are some of the latest advancements you’ve made on this roadmap?
Just last month, as RTX we announced the preliminary design review of hybrid-electric Pratt & Whitney GTF™ engine demonstrator for the Clean Aviation SWITCH project. By combining two Collins Aerospace megawatt-class electric motor generators within a Pratt & Whitney GTF™ engine, the hybrid-electric propulsion system aims to enhance engine efficiency across all phases of flight, offering the potential to reduce fuel burn and emissions for future short- and medium-range aircraft.
Hybrid-electric propulsion is a key part of RTX’s technology roadmap for enabling more sustainable aviation. We are advancing hybrid-electric technologies through multiple demonstrator programs applicable to a variety of future aircraft platforms, including STEP-Tech and the RTX Hybrid-Electric Flight Demonstrator.
In fact, the RTX Hybrid-Electric Flight Demonstrator which has a Collins Aerospace 1MW electric motor combined with a highly efficient thermal Pratt & Whitney turboprop engine, is being tested on the DeHavilland Dash-8 aircraft platform. The demonstrator targets a 30% improvement in fuel efficiency compared to today’s most advanced turboprops – and we believe that it will be uniquely suited for India’s regional aircraft that operate in the UDAN segment in the future.
Are your teams in India helping develop these advancements?
The work being done by more than 6000 RTX employees is supporting our cutting-edge technologies that will drive the future of flight. Over the past two years Pratt & Whitney has invested more than $40 million into our Centers of Excellence (CoE) – across engineering, digital transformation, supply chain operations and customer service. These CoEs are co-located with Collins Aerospace and RTX Enterprise Services and are designed to facilitate close collaboration within our RTX businesses in-country.
Collins’ sites in Bengaluru work across all six portfolios of the company including avionics, interiors, advanced structures and connected aviation solutions. In fact, Collins Aerospace, was one of the first Indian entities to domestically produce and export an aviation product to the US.
Could you elaborate on your investments in India?
Pratt & Whitney’s legacy in India goes beyond just powering the 600+ aircraft that we do today. Our first, flagship investment was the India Customer Training Center in Hyderabad in 2015. The center provides specialized training on our advanced engines and has delivered more than 15,000 student days of training for over 60 operators.
In 2023, we officially opened the doors to our new India Engineering Center (IEC) in Bengaluru, India and 2024 alone, we’ve established two new centers of excellence – the India Digital Capability Center (IDCC) and the Customer Service Center (CSC) in Bengaluru. With the IDCC we are looking to accelerate our digital transformation worldwide – including areas like data analytics, Industry 4.0, cybersecurity and application development.
The Customer Service Center now delivers a wide range of services for our turboprop and business jet fleet, including maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) support, spare part management, engine leasing, engine reliability analysis and contract administration.
At Pratt & Whitney we also continue to invest in India’s aerospace supply chain and aim to expand our sourcing from India to reach nearly $150M annually by 2030. Meanwhile, Collins Aerospace works with nearly 200 suppliers in India and is expanding this network.
In addition, Collins Aerospace is investing an additional $200 million in expanding its R&D and production facilities in India, and we are building a test facility in Bengaluru that will allow the work being done in-country to go through qualification and certification here in India.
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English (US) ·