It should come as no surprise to anyone except the most ardent supporters of the Jamestown Airport that the federal government has once again declined to restore the airport’s Essential Air Service subsidy.

We noted last year that the number of passengers had decreased in the latest Essential Air Service proposal while the amount of the federal government’s subsidy was projected to increase. That was hardly the best way to show the federal government that there was so much pent-up demand locally that the Jamestown airport would be able to average 10 passengers per flight and a federal subsidy of less than $250 per passenger as required by the Essential Air Service program.

Even the data showing the percentage of county passengers who fly from airports in Erie, Buffalo and Cleveland isn’t convincing enough to show a groundswell of support for the airport because county officials can’t indicate that the 58% of county airline travelers who currently use the Buffalo and Pittsburgh airports, followed by Cleveland (21.6%) and Rochester (5.2%), would choose Jamestown if it was an option. The federal government agreed with our prior assessment that not enough has changed to suggest the Jamestown airport is worth the federal government’s investment.

At this point, unless something substantial changes, there is no reason to continue spending county staff time and taxpayer money trying to bring back an Essential Air Service subsidy, and without the subsidy no airline can make commercial air service work here.

But because we continue to accept federal grant dollars the airport is going to be with us for a while. That, to us, means it is time for the Jamestown airport to find a future that doesn’t include commercial flights.

Last year, while the county was still waiting for the federal government to make its Essential Air Service decision, Bob Scudder, R-Fredonia, said he wants to see a plan for the airport. We agree. What does a future look like that relies on corporate and tourism-related traffic at the airport?

“What I’d like to see more is ‘what’s the plan? I’ve never really gotten the plan.,'” Scudder said last year.

We agree. Commercial air service isn’t coming back. So what is the plan to make the airport as usable as it can be for the passengers it does serve?