Members of the Chautauqua County Airport Commission have the right approach on the pending Essential Air Services, or EAS, application to the federal government to resume commercial-air service at the Chautauqua County Jamestown airport.

Patience.

Patience.

Patience.

Their patience was evident at their March 11 meeting.

The commission, as part of Chautauqua County government, supported a well-thought-out EAS application that includes everything it could reasonably be expected to include.

The application was submitted in 2025. We all but knew this: It would take not many weeks but many months for the federal government to consider the application carefully.

We were right. That’s a good thing. Careful consideration is what we want, because in all likelihood, careful consideration is what we need to get a “yes.”

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Meanwhile, discussions of sprucing up the terminal, with costs paid mostly by the federal government, are under way.

The airport is a great facility, and a little polish will serve it and us well.

An updated facility will help Chautauqua County put its best foot forward in welcoming both residents and visitors to the Chautauqua County Jamestown airport.

The importance of that is neither a mystery nor a secret.

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When–let’s say “when,” not “if”–the federal government approves our EAS application, commercial-air service should start not as soon as possible, but as soon as we can do it well.

The importance of doing it well is also neither a mystery nor a secret.

Doing it well doesn’t require waiting until everything is perfect. When it comes to travel, nothing is ever perfect.

Especially on Day 1, in Week 1, in Month 1, and in Season 1, there will be extra glitches.

That’s just how things work with any new–or, in this case, renewed–enterprise.

We’ll all need to be patient with the renewed service.

Friendly tip: When you absolutely, positively have to be somewhere at a particular time, never book the last flight that will get you there on time, no matter which airport you use.

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Meanwhile, when commercial-air service resumes, we’ll need to work with the airline to make sure that service–whatever glitches occur along the way–is good service.

You, faithful reader of this column, already know 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 is a must list, not a wish list:

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

– Good airplanes, meaning ones that neither shimmy mid-flight, give non-squeamish passengers white knuckles, nor seem like they belong on the Flintstones.

– 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.

These nine criteria are the non-negotiable minimum. We’ll take more. But for service to succeed, we dare not, we cannot, take less.

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Let’s recall something else that you, faithful reader of this column, already know: The most recent commercial-air service at the Chautauqua County Jamestown airport failed not because the passenger count dropped off but because the service dropped off.

Think of any other enterprise with which you’re familiar: If (1) it provided bad goods or services, (2) patrons went elsewhere, and (3) it closed, would you say (3) it closed

– because (1) it provided bad goods or services, or

– because (2) patrons went elsewhere?

That’s right. You wouldn’t fault (2) the patrons. Never. Nor would faulting (1) the old enterprise be helpful.

What would be helpful is encouraging the next enterprise to provide better goods or services, and otherwise supporting the next enterprise.

The encouragement is where the nine criteria come in.

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Randy Elf encourages you to join him in supporting good commercial-air service at the Chautauqua County Jamestown airport.