Revolutionary Pratt & Whitney PurePower® Engine Joins Spirit Airlines Fleet

EAST HARTFORD, Conn., Oct. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney's PurePower Geared Turbofan™ (GTF) engine has entered passenger service with Spirit Airlines, which is the first U.S. carrier to fly the Airbus A320neo. The aircraft made its first passenger service flight from Detroit to Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 16. Pratt & Whitney is a division of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX).

"Two things stood out immediately," said Jyri Strandman, vice president of flight operations at Spirit Airlines, who piloted Spirit Airlines' first Airbus A320neo on the ferry flight from Germany to Florida. "Number one was that the engines are extremely quiet. Secondly, when we landed, we noticed we had a whole lot more fuel than we expected to have."

Spirit Airlines calculated that on the 2,000 mile flight between Detroit and Los Angeles, the new aircraft saved about 422 gallons of fuel compared with the previous model. Performance on other aircraft also confirms that the PurePower Geared Turbofan engine reduces fuel burn by 16 percent, lowers emissions by 50 percent and reduces the noise footprint by 75 percent.

"We are very proud to see Spirit Airlines become the first U.S. airline to fly with our PurePower engines," said Rick Deurloo, senior vice president, Sales, Marketing and Customer Support. "PurePower engines are already in service with eight airlines around the world, and are yielding a better than a 99 percent dispatch reliability rate."

Spirit Airlines has ordered 55 of Airbus' latest narrow-body passenger jets, each powered by Pratt & Whitney's revolutionary PurePower PW1100G-JM engines.

Eight carriers are flying 22 GTF engine powered aircraft across the globe. GTF engines have earned more than 30,000 revenue hours and more than 20,000 take-offs and landings.

The PurePower Geared Turbofan engine backlog continues to grow. Pratt & Whitney has engine orders, including options, from more than 80 customers in 30 countries.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units. United Technologies Corp., based in Farmington, Connecticut, provides high-technology systems and services to the building and aerospace industries. By combining a passion for science with precision engineering, the company is creating smart, sustainable solutions the world needs. To learn more about UTC, visit the website at www.utc.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning future business opportunities. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to changes in levels of demand in the aerospace industry, in levels of air travel, and in the number of aircraft to be built; challenges in the design, development, production, support, performance and realization of the benefits of advanced technologies; as well as other risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those detailed from time to time in United Technologies Corp.'s Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

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SOURCE Pratt & Whitney

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