Ever since Pratt & Whitney’s first airplane engine came off the assembly line on Christmas Eve in 1925, the company has been a leader in the aviation industry.
Pratt & Whitney has been a stalwart in Columbus and Muscogee County since first locating there in 1983. A division of United Technologies, Pratt & Whitney’s Columbus operations have grown steadily over the years. The Columbus Engine Center (CEC) opened in 1996, and then a $386 million investment added 500 jobs to its 2,000-person workforce.
To help train the machinists, maintenance professionals, operations personnel and others needed for the expansion, Pratt & Whitney partnered with Quick Start to operate a newly renovated training center, which was renovated from top to bottom. Columbus Technical College provided additional training support.
Tom Bode, general manager of the CEC, scored it a success.
“It is a truly world-class training center for new and existing employees,” he said.
East Hartford, Connecticut
A world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units.
Columbus Technical College
“Major growth like this could not happen without some hard work and great teamwork.”
— Tom Bode, Pratt & Whitney CEC’s General Manager
At the Columbus Forge, a employee uses heat and pressure to shape metal parts, which will then be machined into components for commercial and military aircraft.
Pratt & Whitney’s first operation in Columbus was announced in 1983 to make precision components for gas turbines.
Today, the operation makes airfoils and precision-machined parts for commercial and military engines, and it expanded to make it the home of the company’s new global forging center of excellence.
Quick Start helped trained the machinists, maintenance professionals, operations personnel and others needed for the expansion.
The inspection and maintenance of jet engines requires an expert ability to read blueprints and use assorted instruments for precision measurements.
Quick Start has a long-standing partnership with Pratt & Whitney, having first trained its employees back in the 1980s.
The Columbus Engine Center was renovated by Quick Start from top to bottom to deliver effective training.
Trainees practice using calipers to measure objects and calculate geometric dimensions and tolerances.
Opened in 1996, the CEC is Pratt & Whitney’s international center of excellence for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of a series of its aircraft engines.
