Workers at Raytheon subsidiary Pratt and Whitney work on a jet engine assembly line in this undated handout photo. Image courtesy of United Technologies.

Raytheon Technologies Corp. plans to eliminate more than 15,000 jobs this year at its corporate offices, jet engine-maker Pratt & Whitney and aviation and military equipment manufacturer Collins Aerospace amid the downturn in the airline industry, Chief Executive Officer Greg Hayes said Wednesday.

The move will hit the Hartford area especially hard.

The job cuts at the Waltham, Massachusetts-based company are nearly double the total it initially announced in July.

Hayes, speaking during a Morgan Stanley analysts conference via webcast, said the cuts amount to administrative cost reductions of about 20 percent at Pratt & Whitney, based in East Hartford, and about 12 percent at Collins Aerospace, based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Pratt & Whitney has seen shop visits decline 60 percent since the second quarter, and Collins Aerospace saw a 65 percent drop in commercial spare parts orders, Hayes said, noting global commercial air traffic is down about 45 percent amid the coronavirus pandemic, down from an 80 percent drop in March.

Raytheon is seeking $2 billion in cost reductions and $4 billion in cash conservation this year, he said.

The company’s defense-related business, however, remains strong, Hayes said.

Raytheon shares closed at $62.92 Wednesday, up $1.48.