County officials want badly to see a new airline servicing the Chautauqua County Airport in Jamestown.

Before anything is signed to spend any more taxpayer money, we hope county officials show the public how the newest airline to serve Chautauqua County will fare any better than the host of airlines that have arrived with great fanfare and left a short time later in ignominy.

County Executive George Borrello recently visited the Massena Airport in St. Lawrence County and told The Post-Journal he came away impressed by Boutique Air, with whom there has been an active conversation. We have no doubt Boutique Air does a good job servicing the airport in Massena, just as we have had no doubts previous airlines servicing the Chautauqua County Airport in Jamestown have done good work servicing their other locations. A company does not expand, after all, without having experienced some success.

History has proven that circumstances are different in Jamestown than they are elsewhere — even somewhere like Massena that experiences many of the same weather and population challenges as Chautauqua County. A specific plan showing how a new air service provider will overcome those circumstances should be presented to the public before one additional penny of local or federal taxpayer money comes to the Jamestown airport.