Pratt stumbles in $10b bid to dethrone GE in jet engines

It’s rarely a good sign when you become the butt of jokes. But that’s what happened to Pratt & Whitney at an industry gathering recently, when John Leahy, the venerable chief salesman of Airbus Group SE, went on about a futuristic airplane -- with an engine that “no doubt will be delivered late.” While the audience was amused, Pratt surely wasn’t. It’s spent $10b and decades developing the quieter, more-efficient and less-polluting engine. Executives see the product as critical to catching up to rival General Electric Co. in the market to power narrow-body planes, the dominant aircraft used by airlines around the world. Instead, the engine’s debut has been marred by production delays, technical issues and supply-chain foul-ups. Qatar Airways last week cited the problems while announcing plans to buy planes powered exclusively by GE turbines. Pratt was forced to cut promised deliveries this year by 25%, frustrating some airlines and plane manufacturers counting on them. The troubles have dinged the stock of parent United Technologies, as Pratt’s $14b in sales accounts for about one-quarter of its revenue. “This is their big play to get back on single-aisles,” said Cai Von Rumohr, an analyst at Cowen & Co. “This is the one that’s going to have to happen if they’re going to be a player in large commercial engines.”<br/>