Airport Manager Shannon Barnhart, right, meets with members of the Administrative Services Committee.

Eighteen months ago Chautauqua County officials rejected paying for a study to see if commercial air service should ever return to the Jamestown airport.

Now the idea is coming back.

During the legislature’s Public Facilities Committee meeting, members voted 4-1 to spend $50,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds to help pay for the Air Service Development Project. Voting against the resolution was Legislator Bob Scudder, R-Fredonia.

The resolution still needs approval from the full legislature when it meets April 26.

During the committee meeting, Airports Manager Shannon Barnhart noted how six years ago the Jamestown airport lost Essential Air Service. When they applied to bring air service back, they were denied, saying they needed to provide more data. “We need to go out for an Air Service Recovery Program,” she said.

In January, the county Industrial Development Agency said they supported funding a study and agreed to spend $25,000 toward one.

When the legislature rejected funding the study in October 2021, county lawmakers at that time said too many studies have been done in the past and felt it was time to give up on the idea of commercial air service at the airport.

Since then County Executive PJ Wendel has lobbied for the airport, saying a market analysis needs to be done to determine if the community can support the airport or not.

Barnhart said there is a desire in the community for an airport, but she doesn’t know yet if it’s justified. “I hear on a daily basis how we need air service back. You and I are not the people to do that,” she said to committee members. “I need the professionals to sit down and give me the hard data and to go out. We just don’t have the resources.”

Before the vote, Scudder asked Barnhart if an airline out of Jamestown could fly out to someplace other than Pittsburgh. “We should be looking into not where it (airline) can go, but where do people want to go and can we go there,” he said.

Barnhart said those are some of the options the study will be looking at. Some of the restrictions are due to the small size of Jamestown’s runway, so they can’t accept planes that can go from Chautauqua County to Florida.

Scudder expressed concerns that if the study doesn’t show Chautauqua County needs air service, there may be a push to still try to make it work.

Barnhart said the study will have the final word if there’s a justification to get local air service subsidized. “It’s going to be a yes or no in the end. It’s either going to be we approve of Essential Air Service or you can go off on your own to get commercial air service, but you’re going to pay $800 a ticket to get out of here. That’s what the Essential Air Service essentially says and I don’t know anybody around here, including myself, that wants to do that,” she said.

Scudder said he’s also concerned about accepting subsidies to help lower the price of air tickets locally. “I’m all about the federal funding for seats and all that, but that’s still government money,” he said.

Barnhart responded, “So you’re more of a fan of having a higher price ticket than having a federal offset?”

Scudder paused and then replied, saying, “I’m in favor of it being necessary. We have places to go. It’s affordable and it all works out because of the demand.”

Committee Chairman John Hemmer, R-Westfield, said in his mind the study should give a yes or no. “In my opinion, that’s what the study has to provide for us,” he said.

Barnhart said that’s what the study will do. “This is a data-driven study. This isn’t a ‘here’s your options’ study,” she said.

On Thursday, the same resolution came before the Audit and Control Committee meeting. At that meeting Legislator Terry Niebel, R-Sheridan, voted against it.

He expressed concern the legislature had voted against it a year and a half ago. He did tell Barnhart that he was willing to have a conversation with her before the full legislature meeting to discuss it further.

Barnhart was not the airports manager during the vote in October 2021. She declined to comment on why the legislature voted against it then, but added that this study is needed if there is ever a change for commercial air service to return.

The Audit and Control Committee voted 4-1, in favor of the resolution.

Barnhart said the study, if approved by the full legislature, should take less than a year to complete.