Raytheon Technologies is eliminating 15,000 positions across its commercial aerospace and corporate organizations, including at Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace, to strengthen the company as it navigates through the Covid-19 pandemic, Raytheon Technologies CEO Greg Hayes told investors recently. The tally is nearly double the original estimate the company had detailed in July. While Hayes said the company is looking to further ways to reduce costs of all its businesses, he was optimistic about the balance between commercial and defense during this time.

Plans of the cuts come about six months after Raytheon finalized its merger with United Technologies, a step that came just as Covid-19 had shuttered most airline activity globally. In its second-quarter report at the end of July, Raytheon had reported sales at Collins were down 35 percent year-over-year, commercial original equipment was down 53 percent and commercial aftermarket was down 48 percent. But the military sector was up 10 percent. This resulted in a 98 percent drop in operating profit.

Pratt & Whitney posted similar numbers with adjusted sales down 30 percent in total; commercial original equipment was down 42 percent and commercial aftermarket was down 51 percent, while military was up 11 percent. Operating profit plunged 133 percent.