United Technologies' Pratt & Whitney unit expects global industry sales of business jets to bottom out this year and begin to recover in 2011, said a senior executive of the engine maker.

The company also expects sales of spare parts for engines to pick up slightly this year, said David Hess, president of the maker of jet engines.

Corporate jet sales have already started to recover after falling sharply during the recession.

"We hope the trough is this year and we'll see the recovery going forward," Hess said. "Typically they trail corporate profits by 12 to 18 months or so. I expect we'll see a similar pattern here."

The company, which has a Canadian division that makes engines for business jets, expects its sales of those engines to decline this year and "then start to go up again, we hope, next year," said Hess, who took the reins at Pratt last year.

Top makers of business aircraft, including Cessna, Gulfstream and Bombardier, suffered from the credit crunch and worst recession in decades.

Pratt is on track for low single-digit percentage revenue growth, driving operating profit up 4 percent to 5 percent this year, Hess said.

SPARE PARTS 'SNAP-BACK'

Pratt & Whitney also expects sales of spare and replacement parts for engines to bounce back this year, after falling sharply during the recession as airlines pulled parts off idle aircraft rather than buying new supplies.

"You can only do that for so long and then there's got to be a snap back or a catch-up at some point," Hess said. "I don't think we believe that will be real strong this year but we think those things will combine to give us moderate growth."

Pratt is counting on its new geared turbofan engine, which it says offers about a 16 percent fuel savings, to help it regain share in the market for single-aisle commercial jets, where it has been boxed out by rivals including General Electric.

It has landed a few customers for its geared turbofan engine, including Bombardier, Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Russia's Irkut. It is also pitching it to Boeing and Airbus for their next generation of single-aisle jets.

Plans for those aircraft could be announced soon, Hess said.

"Even the most pessimistic person would say that we will have a pretty good recovery by 2015," he said. "If you want to be there with a new product when the economy is recovered, you have to launch now, even in the midst of economic challenges."