Costco Wholesale's Gulfstream G280 lands in Regina the week of auditor's report on $6.8M subsidy

Costco Wholesale's Gulfstream G280 (N82CW) was tracked flying from Winnipeg's James Armstrong Richardson International Airport to Regina International Airport on June 25, 2026, a 59-minute hop that touched down shortly after 1 p.m. local time. The aircraft, part of a four-jet fleet managed from the company's Issaquah, Washington headquarters, has been active across the Midwest and Canada in recent days.

If Costco Wholesale representatives were aboard, they would arrive the same week Saskatchewan's auditor, Tara Clemett, released a report concluding that a $6.8-million subsidy the City of Regina granted to Costco Wholesale could have been avoided had a provincial Crown corporation properly coordinated with the city, per Global News and the StarPhoenix. The subsidy, approved earlier this year, was designed to keep a second Costco Wholesale location within city limits after the retailer backed out of a Westerra development and considered building outside Regina.

The flight follows a pattern of regional travel — N82CW has visited Ohio, Illinois, and British Columbia in recent days — and suggests direct engagement with the subsidy controversy. Costco Wholesale's famously flat corporate structure, per the company's briefing, often puts senior executives on the road for such negotiations; CEO Ron Vachris has been known to personally handle site decisions since taking the role in January 2024.