Pratt and Whitney to build engines for new generation of aircraft

Pratt and Whitney will build engines for a new generation of airborne refueling tanker aircraft made by Boeing, a $35 billion program for the Pentagon. The company will assemble about 400 engines at the Middletown plant, and produce about 30 engines a year. Stephanie Duvall, a spokeswoman for Pratt and Whitney and United Technologies, said the company was adequately staffed to do the work with its current staffing level. The company beat out EADS, the parent company Airbus for the contract, which would have assembled the engines in Alabama.