Honeywell Aerospace has flown the nest.
Long part of industrial conglomerate Honeywell International, the company completed its spinoff Monday into a stand-alone manufacturer focused on things that fly -- working on everything from cooling airplane cabins to guiding the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Artemis II mission past the moon.
The industries the Phoenix-based company serves, commercial air travel and defense, are both booming. They also face supply-chain challenges and demanding customers, including a U.S. president who has complained about contractors' pace of production.
Jim Currier, a nearly 20-year Honeywell veteran who has led its aerospace operations since 2023, said the new, "hyperfocused" company can more effectively allocate capital to meet the moment.
The Wall Street Journal spoke with the chief executive about tackling the supply chain, navigating Pentagon demands and where artificial intelligence fits into aviation. Here are edited excerpts of the conversation.
WSJ: You met with President Trump last week to discuss the Pentagon's efforts to ramp up missile production . What did you hear from the administration?
CURRIER: 40% of our business is defense, and we spend a lot of time both within this administration and the Pentagon. We are exceptionally well positioned on virtually every fixed-wing defense product, helo, missile system. The demand is very strong, and we are making the necessary investments.
We recently signed a framework agreement between ourselves, the Department of War, RTX and Lockheed Martin. That's to enable speed and agility in terms of investment, to drive the ability to increase production rates on these precision-guided systems by 2x to 4x, depending on the specific missile system.
WSJ: You're making those investments using your own balance sheet. What happens if defense spending recedes?
CURRIER: 40% of our business is defense, but 30% of that business is international defense. Those are direct sales that we make to ministries of defense, our NATO allies and our partners overseas, as well as international defense prime companies. Increased spending in the international defense markets also creates a tailwind for us.
WSJ: Supply-chain snags have hurt production since Covid-19. Are these problems avoidable, or the nature of the aerospace business today?
CURRIER: Unfortunately, it is a part of the nature today. However, the amount of investment that we've made over the last three years is in excess of a billion dollars, both within our own factories and down into the supply base. What we've got is some acute issues within the industry, and typically you see those in castings and forgings and machine shot operations. They also represent tremendous opportunities for us.
WSJ: The Trump administration has called out some defense companies' spending on buybacks and dividends. Is that a concern for you?
CURRIER: I don't anticipate that being an issue for Honeywell Aerospace, because we're going to focus on driving capitalization and investments to drive output, which is exactly what the Pentagon and this administration wants to see.
WSJ: What role should artificial intelligence play in commercial jet avionics?
CURRIER: There's definitely a play for artificial intelligence, but you need to be exceptionally careful with the introduction of AI into product design to ensure it is done in the safest manner possible.
We are using AI to do iterative designs on next-gen systems in a much more expeditious manner. What would have taken an analytical assessment weeks to complete now can be done literally in hours or in mere days. Teaching those tools how to design for safety, how to design for performance, but most importantly, how to design for manufacturing capability -- because the differentiator for the future is not just going to be built around innovation and technology. Introducing products at speed and being able to manufacture at scale new products and new technologies is really what's going to become a differentiator.
It's still early stages to incorporate that inside of a cockpit, but there are autonomous capabilities and features and functions, non-AI centric, that can enhance safety and pilot situational awareness, and reduce the crew workload.
WSJ: In some of these incidents of fumes leaking into commercial jet cabins, auxiliary power units are involved . Is there anything that can be done?
CURRIER: There have been reports of that in the past, but our designs and our technologies are focused on providing the safest operating environment, not only for the aircraft, but for the passengers as well, inside of the cabin.
There's ongoing design enhancements that are occurring at the airframe level to address any potential issues that may exist.
Write to Drew FitzGerald at andrew.fitzgerald@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 29, 2026 16:35 ET (20:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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