AEROSPACE

Pratt & Whitney Speeds Layoffs to Calm Work Force: United Technologies Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney unit said it will lay off 800 mostly white-collar workers at its Florida engine plant about three months earlier than planned, to quell uneasiness among workers wondering whose jobs are in jeopardy. “The employees said, ‘Hey, we want to get this over with,’ ” spokesman Bob Carroll said. The cuts are part of a company-wide reduction of workers from 40,600 to 30,000 by next year and come in response to lower defense spending. The plant makes engines for fighter jets such as the F-15 and F-16.