Story ID: 411
Honeywell Preps To Emerge as Independent Entity
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: Business is strong across units
Word Count: 1028
Honeywell Aerospace Technologies is “stepping into a new era” as it prepares to emerge as a separate entity, spinning off from the giant conglomerate.
Earlier this year, the Honeywell board agreed to fully separate its automation and aerospace technologies business lines, in addition to its previous decision to spin off advanced materials. Once completed in the latter half of 2026, the result would break Honeywell into three individual publicly listed entities.
Jim Currier, president and CEO, told reporters at the Paris Air Show that this year’s event is particularly meaningful. “It's not just another airshow, but it's a big moment for us…We are preparing to write the next chapter of our story.”
He stressed that while paving the way to move forward as an individual entity, “We are not starting from scratch. We are building on a foundation of strength that's been crafted for more than 100 years.”
While not having a formal update on the split, Currier added that he is encouraged by progress made to date and said, “The separation isn't about simplifying how we're structured, it's about unlocking our full potential to move faster and deliver the innovations that will power the future of aerospace.”
The aerospace portfolio encompasses a $15 billion business in annual revenue and a global workforce of 30,000, touches nearly everything that flies in the commercial, military, space, and now advanced air mobility arenas. Honeywell Aerospace Technologies comprises three main business units: electronic solutions covering avionics and navigation; engines and power systems; and control systems.
He noted that having a balanced portfolio across types keeps down its exposure to any one market sector.  For instance, half of its OEM sales and one-third of its MRO business in the commercial space come from business aviation.
“Our diversification is more than protecting against the cyclical nature of the aerospace business,” he added, however. “It also presents an opportunity for us to leverage technology, best practices, and other assets across a multitude of aircraft types.”
However, he noted that business right now is strong throughout, with record backlogs at aircraft OEMs reflecting more demand than supply given the doubling of commercial travel every 15 to 20 years. Business aviation has gained many new users and has new platforms on the horizon.  In fact, Currier told AIN that Honeywell has held discussions with multiple OEMs on potential platforms as work progresses on the next-generation HTF7000 turbofan that will have higher efficiency and more thrust than existing iterations of the engine.
The retrofit market is taking an even greater role, he added, as existing aircraft are expected to remain in service longer but still reflect improvements in efficiency and safety. This business is growing at double-digit rates, accounting for about 10% of its sales last year.
Meanwhile, the defense business finds both the U.S. and its allies investing to meet rising geopolitical threats. Currier pointed to the 2024 acquisition of Civitanavi—which specializes in inertial navigation, georeference, and stabilization systems—as part of Honeywell’s overarching plans to expand its European technology and manufacturing business in this arena.
Space, he said, remains a dynamic market with lower launch costs and an increasing number of applications that present opportunities for its sensors, communications, and navigation technologies.
“Our strategy is clear, our portfolio is strong,” Currier said. “We're investing in our suppliers, automation, and R&D to ensure we can deliver the future of aviation.”
Working with suppliers has been particularly critical as Honeywell, along with the rest of the aerospace industry, has navigated around global shortages.  He noted that the company has “heavily invested” in its base in the last couple of years. 
“I feel our electronics portions of our portfolio have fully recovered,” he said. “We've taken large measures on the mechanical side that have gotten it to be better.”
This includes seeing 11 consecutive quarters of double-digit output growth from its factors, Currier noted, but conceded, “There's continued room for improvement.” Anything that’s complex machining has remained difficult, he said, adding the bottlenecks tend to involve anything that requires outside specialized processing.
Honeywell is navigating this by embedding its people in supplier manufacturing plants, buying tooling, and providing capital. “We've invested substantially in procuring raw material for our suppliers,” he added. “We've been very engaged not just in our own factories and the investments that we have to do, but going down deeper into the supply base and into the mechanical suppliers and showing them best practices on how to run a manufacturing facility. We've embedded ourselves very deeply within to help drive improvements.”
As it manages its manufacturing base to meet the growing demand, it also has created a task force to work across the organization in preparation for tariffs. This includes analyzing all of the company's exposure, he said. “We've taken a tremendous amount of mitigation measures across the board to reduce the impacts collectively.”
For example, Currier said this includes examining where the company can source materials or perhaps moving more toward another source.
Currier agreed that the changing nature of the tariffs is creating uncertainty. “It creates anxiety, and it creates stress in the supply base,” he added. “People are wondering how they recover from that and how they deal with it, and we work with them to help educate them on how best to mitigate some of the tariffs.”
He was encouraged by the executive order issued out of the White House in Washington, D.C., almost two weeks ago that clears the way for the elimination of the ban on supersonic travel over land in the U.S., as well as directing the country to work with international regulators.
Honeywell’s next-generation avionics platform—Anthem—has already been selected by Boom for its supersonic Overture airliner. But Currier anticipates that the push for supersonic overland operations may spread to other parts of Honeywell, with many other capabilities that could be brought onboard such aircraft.