Costco Wholesale's Gulfstream G280 lands in Washington the week of a key FTC hearing

Costco Wholesale's Gulfstream G280, tail number N84CW, was tracked flying from Aurora Municipal Airport in Illinois to Washington Dulles International Airport on June 26, a 1-hour 15-minute hop that touched down just before 11 p.m. Eastern. The aircraft's operator lists the Issaquah-based retailer as the registered owner.

If Costco Wholesale CEO Ron Vachris or other executives were on the flight, the timing would place them in the nation's capital the same week the Federal Trade Commission is expected to hold a closed-door meeting on proposed merger guidelines affecting big-box retailers, according to a regulatory calendar published by the FTC this month. The destination is also a common hub for meetings with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and trade groups on food supply chain issues.

The flight is notably the only East Coast leg among a series of recent movements by the same aircraft, which on June 26 included hops across the Upper Midwest and a jaunt to the Vancouver area. Costco Wholesale keeps a four-jet fleet — three G280s and a G650ER — based near Boeing Field, reflecting a CEO who famously flies commercial for personal travel but makes the company jets available for board and executive business.