About Us

History

The beginnings for Aviation Metals were rooted in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1976.  The company, founded by William Contes, was first established with a goal of becoming a source for foreign and domestic airlines to use when facing with difficult purchases.  The company’s reputation for locating “hard to find” items and for offering impeccable service soon precipitated a demand for Aviation Metals to take on a larger role in the supply chain.  The following five years would see the company develop inventory programs of diverse types of metals while expanding its customer base in various industries.
 

The company made a logistical change and opened up a second branch in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1981 headed by Charles Contes, the son of the founder.  The NC branch acted as the supply warehouse for many military bases throughout the southeast region and began the establishment of a permanent location for the company.  With continued commitment towards expanding its inventory lines, the company completed the construction of a 40,000sf warehouse in 1982.  Shortly after opening the new facility, Aviation Metals consolidated its inventory and staff to its Charlotte location. 

At this time, Aviation Metals became the source for those who were looking for standard as well as unique “hard to find” items while not willing to sacrifice quality service.  Aviation Metals is considered a true “one stop shop” for the airline and aerospace industries.  As a stocking distributor of various alloys and product forms including but not limited to aluminum, stainless, nickel, and titanium alloys, Aviation Metals can meet these numerous requests.  For specialized requirements, Aviation Metals also began offering such value added services such as cutting to size, gun drilling, trepanning, heat treating, centerless grinding, chem-milling, testing, custom manufacturing, AOG / same day shipping, export packing, and PVC protective tape coating.   

Present

To this day, Aviation Metals models its success by specializing in a wide array of standard, custom, odd, or hard to find materials and sizes while offering the quality service that its customers require.   The philosophy of having readily available a wide array of inventory along with offering quality service continues today to be one of the main goals of Aviation Metals.  Aviation Metals understands that dedication to quality service is key and credits its success by this philosophy. 

Aviation Metals’ dedicated sales staff has accumulated over 100 years of experience in the metal industry and has the material knowledge and understanding that quality service is essential to the needs of each of its customers.   Whether a small repair shop or a large government manufacturer or airline, Aviation Metals has NO minimum purchases.   

Aviation Metals is quality certified to the ISO9001:2000 and Aerospace AS9100 standards which exemplifies its commitment towards quality.  This certification is one of many ways that Aviation Metals, Inc. assures its customers its commitment to satisfy their needs & requirements and its dedication to quality, service, & reliability. 

Give us an opportunity to prove ourselves and contact us today with your requirements!