Thumbs up to an outbreak of common sense in the Chautauqua County Legislature.

During its voting session at the end of October, legislators voted 15-4 against spending $72,000 on yet another study of the viability of commercial air service at the Chautauqua County Airport in Jamestown.

The airport has been without a commercial air carrier since December 2017, when the federal Transportation Department terminated Essential Air Service eligibility for Jamestown because the local airport wasn’t meeting the federal standard of 10 passengers a day nor the federal government’s $200 per rider subsidy cap. The federal government has declined three plans to restore Essential Air Service to the airport in the years since because federal officials didn’t believe the airport would meet the ridership projections included in the Essential Air Service proposals based on past history and the proximity of bigger airports in Erie and Buffalo.

An airport with commercial air service is a luxury, not a necessity for an area that continues to shrink. We agree wholeheartedly with legislators Elisabeth Rankin and Chuck Nazzaro, who both said the time for commercial air service based in Jamestown is an idea whose time has come and gone. Nazzaro, in particular, showed once again why he will be missed on the legislature when he retires at the end of the year, pushing county officials to use the airports for private use, industrial use, and to explore charter use.

“We cannot spend another $72,000 for a study which will probably lead to another study,” he said.

Rather than try to restore the good old days of commercial air service from the Jamestown airport, follow Nazzaro’s advice. Move forward. Find what’s next.