RIVERDALE, Iowa — Arconic announced Monday a $1 billion, multi-year contract with Airbus that will put Arconic sheet plate on every Airbus plane. The announcement comes the same day Arconic, Davenport Works in Riverdale, Iowa received the last shipment needed to complete a $190 million piece of state-of-the-art thick plate stretcher.
The agreement is the first to include material from Arconic's new plate stretcher.
"This will give us the capability to make much thicker pieces which is really what our aerospace and some of customers are driving for these days," said John Riches, spokesman for the Davenport Works Arconic plant, of the machinery delivered on Monday.
“This large contract is a further important step to expand our leadership position in the aerospace industry," said Klaus Kleinfeld, Chairman and CEO of Arconic in a press release out November 7, 2016.
"We are proud that Airbus has chosen us to support their fastest growing, technologically advanced programs. Partnerships like this with industry leaders are core to our strategy and this contract is another proof point of the potential that lies in it. We continue to focus on developing products and technologies that take all of our aerospace customers to new heights," said Kleinfeld.
The contract with Airbus is good news for United Steelworkers Local 105 in Bettendorf.
"It’s always good news to know you’ve got contracts of work ahead of us, keeping us busy at the plant," said Brad Greve, President of USW Local 105.
Greve says about 1,900 USW Local 105 steel workers produce steel at Arconic in Riverdale.
"Airbus is a good customer of ours, has been for a long time and we look forward to working with them going forward," said Greve, adding that a good customer means a company that does a lot of business and works with Arconic on the products that are needed so that a quality product, delivered on-time is achieved.
Work to fulfill the multi-year Airbus contract is set to begin January 2017.