Progress in restoring local commercial-air service continues.

Chautauqua County airport-commission members heard on June 4 that the county has submitted to the federal government a proposal to restore such service at the Chautauqua County Jamestown airport.

The restoration would be through the federal Essential Air Services, or EAS, program, which previously supported such service here.

♦♦♦

You, faithful reader of this column, will recall such service ended some years ago, because the previous service was bad.

That wasn’t passengers’ fault.

Passengers will gladly support good service yet not bad service.

That’s crucial to understand.

♦♦♦

Before getting into the details of the county’s proposal, let’s recall what decades of experience with commercial-air service at the Chautauqua County Jamestown airport have taught us. For such service to succeed, it must meet all–all–of the following nine criteria. This isn’t a wish list. It’s a must list:

�–� Service on, or sufficiently connected with, a major airline to a hub airport of the major airline.

�–� Good airplanes.

�–� An airplane at the Chautauqua County Jamestown airport overnight.

�–� Early flights out and late flights in.

�–� Service otherwise frequent enough to meet the needs of the airport’s market.

�–� Service priced competitively with service to and from Erie and Buffalo.

�–� Luggage-checking service between the airport and final destinations.

�–� Reliable service, and

�–� Rebooking service at the airport to final destinations, and vice versa.

♦♦♦

At https://downloads.regulations.gov/DOT-OST-2003-14950-0194/attachment_2.pdf you can read the county’s EAS proposal.

In short, the proposal is well written, and more importantly, reassuring.

�–� Option A has 12 weekly round-trip flights–two daily, Monday to Saturday–to and from Washington Dulles International Airport. Option B increases the weekly total to 17.

We would do well to secure the 17, and then add two on Sunday as soon as possible.

�–� Dulles is a hub for United Airlines, so service to Dulles can work.

Cleveland and Pittsburgh, you’ll recall, are no longer major-airline hubs.

�–� According to the proposal, Southern Airways Express has “interline agreements” with other airlines, including United Airlines and American Airlines.

“These partnerships allow passengers to book a single itinerary that includes both Southern Airways flights and connections on larger network carriers. Checked luggage can be transferred automatically between airlines, and travelers gain access to more seamless transfers,” the proposal says. “Through its interline ticketing and baggage agreement, Southern Airways provides … passengers with single-ticket booking capabilities, protection across both carriers during irregular operations, and seamless baggage handling from (the) Jamestown (a)irport through to their final destination.”

�–� According to the proposal, “having an aircraft based at” the Chautauqua County Jamestown airport “is a criterion that both Southern Airways and the airport agree is a game changer for reliable service.”

�–� The proposal says Southern Airways Express uses turboprops–which can be fine–and identifies the aircraft for this market as a nine-passenger Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX.

What makes for “good airplanes”? Well, good question. How’s this for part of an answer? They don’t need to be luxurious, yet they shouldn’t shimmy mid-flight or otherwise give non-squeamish passengers white knuckles. And, as this column has previously observed, the airplanes shouldn’t seem like they belong on the Flintstones.

The proposal’s description of the aircraft is reassuring.

�–� The proposal also speaks to the reliability of Southern Airways Express service under new ownership and new leadership.

�–� That leaves airfares, which the proposal understandably can’t set. Let’s recall, though, that passengers are willing to pay a little more to avoid driving to and from Erie or Buffalo, especially during you-know-which season. They’re not, however, willing to pay hundreds of dollars more. For that much, they’ll drive to Erie or Buffalo, or perhaps Cleveland or Pittsburgh.

♦♦♦

Again, this proposal is reassuring. What we need is for the federal government to give the green light to restoring the EAS program for the Chautauqua County Jamestown airport.

Then we can work with the airline to assure continuously meeting all nine criteria.

So far, so good.

♦♦♦

Dr. Randy Elf hopes you’ll join him and others in supporting good commercial-air service at the Chautauqua County Jamestown airport.

COPYRIGHT © 2025 BY RANDY ELF