People Are Poring Over Jeff Bezos’ Flight Records For Clues to Future Amazon HQ2

April 26, 2018

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2 min read

People Are Poring Over Jeff Bezos’ Flight Records For Clues to Future Amazon HQ2

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Cities across the country have been waiting on pins and needles for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to pick the new location for his behemoth company's second headquarters.

The shortlist of the final 20 cities was revealed in January, but scant clues about the new headquarters have surfaced since that announcement months ago.

Diehard Amazon observers are now so desperate for a hint, they are speculating whether Bezos' travel patterns might reveal which locations are being most seriously considered. (Despite the fact that Amazon told Fox Business that “there’s no connection between Jeff’s personal and business travel, and our HQ2 search,” which pokes a giant hole in the travel theory).

An analysis of his private jet's flight records by Puget Sound Business Journal does show that in the last two years, Bezos has made multiple stops to Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Washington, DC, which technically is on the shortlist for Amazon's HQ2, but is also home to several other of Bezos' major commitments. Not only is Amazon Web Services based inside The Beltway, but Bezos also owns a mansion nearby and is the owner of a little media company called The Washington Post. DC is the second most visited city by Bezos' private jet, second only to Amazon's original headquarters, Seattle.

DCA, located in Arlington, Virginia, is in the general vicinity of several potential Amazon HQ2 locations still in the running: Washington, DC, northern Virginia and Montgomery County, Maryland, leading some people to speculate that the purpose for his frequent trips to the DC area could be scouting HQ2 locations. But, it is likely his other commitments that are drawing him to the area.

Private jet prediction techniques aside, it seems the only way to know the location of HQ2 for sure is to wait for the official announcement at the end of the year.