United Technologies Corp. said Thursday it has laid off 150 salaried employees as part of a restructuring of its UTC Aerospace Systems division.
Seventy of the employees worked at a former Hamilton Sundstrand plant in Windsor Locks, and the others worked at a plant that's closing in Ithaca, N.Y.
"When necessary, we make staffing adjustments required to ensure we remain competitive and manage our cost structure," UTC Aerospace Systems spokesman Matthew Perra said.
UTC Aerospace Systems is the combination of Hamilton Sundstrand and Goodrich and is based in Charlotte, N.C.
The layoffs leave about 3,900 workers in Windsor Locks, where the company also is paring down the number of hourly workers. It announced last year that it planned to eliminate 300 positions in manufacturing operations in Connecticut. Perra said it hopes to reach that number through attrition, reassignment and layoffs if necessary.
The Hartford Courant newspaper reported that union members were told the work was moving to Singapore, Poland, Russia, Puerto Rico and Arizona.
The facility in upstate New York had focused on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems. Perra said the decision to close the Ithaca plant was made before the UTC/Goodrich acquisition and is related to a decline in growth of space programs.
As a result of the closure, 24 positions will be added at a former Goodrich plant in Danbury.