Pratt & Whitney defends engines on Vietnam plans
BOSTON - United Technologies Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney jet engine unit has sent a letter to Vietnam Airlines asking the carrier to correct the public record after media reports said that Pratt & Whitney engines on some of its jets were limiting their flying range.
"Our involvement, once the press reports came out, was to try and figure out how to support the airline and the executives and to very clearly refute the allegations that were made that selecting the Pratt & Whitney engine was limiting their ability to grow," Michael Field, senior vice president at Pratt & Whitney, said on Thursday.
In the June 27 letter, addressed to Vietnam Airlines president and chief executive officer Nguyen Xuan Hien, Field wrote, "It is simply inaccurate for anyone to say that Vietnam Airlines chose a 'medium-range' engine to power a 'long-range' aircraft." The letter was also sent to Vietnamese government officials. A copy of it was given to Reuters by Pratt & Whitney.
In Hanoi, a spokesman for the state-owned airline said the company made the "right choice" of engines.
"The purchase of Pratt & Whitney engines for our aircraft is a right choice, which has been approved by the government," spokesman Nguyen Tan Chan said. "All the planes have been in good use."
Vietnam Airlines is under investigation in Vietnam on allegations of overspending on executive travel and leasing possibly unsuitable engines for some of its aircraft, according to reports in the state-run media.
Reuters - July 13, 2006.
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