UTX Subsidiary Delivers Vietjet's First A321neo Aircraft

Pratt & Whitney, an operating segment of United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) , recently delivered the first of 63 A321neo aircraft, powered by its PurePower Geared Turbofan engines to Vietjet airlines.

With this delivery, Vietjet — Vietnam's largest airline — becomes the first Southeast Asian airline to own a A321neo aircraft. The Airbus A321neo is a narrow bodied, short to medium range, commercial airline that comes with more fuel efficient engines. Neo, short for “new engine option” also promises to lower operating costs and nitrogen oxide emissions.

The PurePower engine family has proven its mettle in the industry. It has a state-of-the-art gear system, which separates the engine fan from compressor and turbine, thereby facilitating an optimum operating speed for each of the modules. While the fan rotates slower, the low-pressure compressor and turbine operate at a high speed, increasing engine efficiency and delivering significantly lower fuel consumption, lesser noise and lower emissions along with reduced maintenance costs.

The PurePower Geared Turbofan engine has been able to meet the strict quality standards relating to burn, noise and emissions to receive the accreditation. The PurePower GTF engine has the ability to reduce engine fuel consumption by 16%, regulating emissions and noise footprint by 50% and 75%, respectively. The engine is reportedly being used by 80 different customers across the globe.

Pratt & Whitney is a leading manufacturer and supplier of aircraft in commercial and military airspace. The two companies have shared a good business relationship since February 2016 following a contract to power VietJet's 63 new aircraft with Pratt & Whitney’s GTF engines. The airline plans to order more A321neo aircraft in the near future.

Such continued collaborations and after-market services give Pratt & Whitney a competitive advantage over its peers. It has enabled United Technologies, the parent firm, to outperform the industry in the last three months with an average return of 10.4% against a decline of 2% for the latter.

United Technologies currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the industry include Raven Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAVN) , Bunzl (LON:BNZL) PLC (OTC:BZLFY) and 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Raven has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 10%. It has exceeded estimates thrice in the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 25.8%.

Bunzl PLC has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 3.2%.

3M has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 10.2%. It has exceeded estimates thrice in the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 2.5%.

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