Amazon airport check-in reveals headquarters impact

Amazon employees enjoy
special perks in Seattle.
Ted S.
Warren / AP Images

Walking through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, flyers may
notice something a bit unusual. 

Both Delta and Alaska Airlines have special check-ins for Amazon
employees. Microsoft employees also have special check-in lanes
at the two airlines. 

Here’s a look at the Delta check in: 

Delta’s special check-ins for Amazon and Microsoft
employees.
Madeline
Stone

David Oppenheim, vice president of sales at Alaska Airlines,

told The New York Times earlier this year that the lanes
were intended to attract corporate travel managers, who look for
“special benefits for their corporate travelers that take some of
the hassle out of flying.” 

The check-in lanes also speak to the power and influence that
Microsoft and, especially, Amazon yield in Seattle. Amazon’s
growth in Seattle — as the company’s size has expanded to more
than 40,000 employees in the city — has transformed its culture
and physical landscape. 

“Amazon dominates Seattle, sprawling across downtown and
upsetting locals with snarled traffic, soaring housing prices,
never-ending construction, and accelerated gentrification,”

Business Insider’s Harrison Jacobs reports. “The city
has seen an unprecedented economic surge, adding 220,000
jobs over the past decade.” 

Despite the negatives, Seattle businesses have been eager to
cater to Amazon employees. In addition to special airline
check-ins, Jacobs reports that sex shop Fantasy Unlimited and
strip club Little Darlings
offer special deals for Amazonians.

Sex shop discounts are one
benefit Amazon workers enjoy in Seattle.

Harrison
Jacobs/Business Insider

With the announcement that Amazon’s search for a second
headquarters would end with new sites in Queens’ Long Island City
and the
newly created area National Landing, Virginia, many are
wondering how the e-commerce giant will exert its influence in
the regions. 

Many people are already nervous. In New York,
the news has sparked concerns regarding rent hikes,

crowded subways, and crumbling infrastructure.

But, will it mean that LaGuardia Airport — located less than half
an hour from Amazon’s proposed office site in Long Island City —
could begin roping off an area for Amazon workers?

With
the TSA already keeping tabs on the impact of HQ2, the option
definitely isn’t off the table. Airlines’ decision to create
special check-in lanes for Amazon employees in Seattle shows the
degree to which the company can take over a city, helping
guarantee special treatment for workers. Representatives for
Delta and Alaska Airlines did not immediately return Business
Insider’s request for comment on whether similar check-in lanes
could come to LaGuardia. 

While splitting Amazon’s second headquarters may reduce the
immense impact of HQ2, New York and Virginia have already offered

tax incentives and other perks to win over Amazon. Soon,
businesses may be doing the same to win over Amazon
workers. 

Read more about Amazon’s HQ2 project: