Power People Vertical visited Pratt & Whitney Canada’s headquarters in Longueuil, Quebec, to get the story behind one of the oldest names in the aviation industry — and find out how the engine manufacturer plans to develop the next generation of power and customer support. By Oliver Johnson The waters of the mighty St. Lawrence River, the 1,190-kilometer (740-mile) arterial waterway that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Great Lakes, almost seem to emanate history. Beginning with Jacques Cartier in 1535, the river was the basis for European exploration and settlement of the land that would eventually become Canada, with three of North America’s oldest settlements — Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, and Montreal — founded along its banks. The latter is celebrating its 375 th anniversary this year, the last century of which saw it play a key role in the development of the global aviation industry, and become one of the largest aero- space hubs in the world. And it was because of this that I found myself standing on the south bank of the St. Lawrence on an unseasonably mild — but still frigid — January morning in Longueuil (a commuter city across the water from downtown Montreal). I was visiting one of the oldest and most familiar presences in aviation. Established in 1928, it will celebrate the production of its 100,000 th engine this summer — 60,000 of which are still in service, operated by over 12,300 operators in 200 countries. Within the rotary-wing industry, its products power aircraft produced by Airbus, Bell, Leonardo, MD, Avic and Kazan. And in Vertical’s first-ever engine manufac- turer survey last year, you voted it the clear winner. That company is, of course, Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC). The venerable manufacturer produces engines for four main business segments: general aviation, regional turboprops, busi- ness jets and helicopters; and also produces commercial auxiliary power units (APUs), including those previously manufactured by Pratt & Whitney in the United States. P&WC president John Saabas told Vertical that this diversity and industry experience give the company a competitive advantage. ABOVE From left: John Saabas, president of P&WC; Irene Makris, vice president of marketing at P&WC; and Tim Swail, vice president of customer programs at P&WC. 78 Ver tical Maga zine