Chautauqua County officials are on board with trying to restore Essential Air Service at the Jamestown airport.

We remain unconvinced that passengers, not to mention the federal government, are ready to climb back on board passenger service at the Jamestown airport. We haven’t yet seen anything that says the federal government is about to open the federal spending floodgates, nor have we seen anything that says ridership at the airport is going to explode if an Essential Air Service subsidy is reinstated by the federal government.

County lawmakers are bound and determined to plow ahead with efforts to reinstate Essential Air Service and, it seems, to pursue passenger air service even if the federal government says no to spending taxpayer money on a money-losing airport. Legislators passed a resolution at their January meeting directing the county’s consultants to “aggressively pursue reinstating commercial air service” and requesting federal and state representatives to join the county in making it happen.

At the same time, county officials are negotiating with possible airlines to take over air service either with or without a federal air service subsidy. We’re dubious the Jamestown airport won’t cost the county money year after year with an Essential Air Service subsidy. It’s our opinion that pursuing passenger air service without a Essential Air Service subsidy will drain the county’s surplus just as the Chautauqua County Home did before the county sold the property and, honestly, just as the Jamestown airport did before passenger air service ended in 2018.

Chautauqua County’s finances are in much better shape now than they were when the county owned a nursing home and operated passenger service from a flailing airport in Jamestown. County officials have signaled their desire to protect the surplus in recent months in nearly every decision they’ve made – except the one to pursue passenger air service at the Jamestown airport.