Tech

Jeff Bezos lifted a pile of dirt with a front loader to kick off Amazon's new $1.5 billion air hub

Key Points
  • Amazon breaks ground on a $1.5 billion air hub in Kentucky on Tuesday.
  • CEO Jeff Bezos is there at the groundbreaking and rides a piece of heavy machinery.
  • The air hub is scheduled to open in 2021 and will employ 2,000 Amazon workers.
Jeff Bezos gives a thumbs-up as he speaks during an event about Blue Origin's space exploration plans in Washington, D.C., May 9, 2019.
Clodagh Kilcoyne | Reuters

Amazon broke ground on Tuesday on a new $1.5 billion air hub in Kentucky that will enable it to further control its own shipping and cut its reliance on UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service.

But watching Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos at the groundbreaking, you could get the sense he was just excited to drive some heavy machinery.

Watch him:

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"All right, let's move some earth!" Bezos said before getting on a John Deere front loader.

"If you're wondering, that's fun," he said when he disembarked.

The air hub at Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport was originally announced in 2017 and is scheduled to open in 2021. About 50 aircraft will operate out of the hub, and 2,000 Amazon employees will work there, according to Amazon.

"This hub is going to let us get packages to customers faster. We're going to move Prime from two days to one day," Bezos said on Tuesday, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier.

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