BUFFALO, N.Y. — Plans are taking flight that could bring commercial air travel back to the Jamestown Airport, which lost federal funding several years ago.
That along with a decline in passengers led to the airlines stopping commercial flights. It's been a seven-year battle to get funding for air services. The funding keeps ticket prices down and ridership up.
"We would have to have fewer days of service. We would have to pay a higher price to travel from Jamestown regularly if we didn't have any funding to offset that," Shannon Fischer said.
Fischer is the director of airports in Chautauqua County. The funding is called Essential Air Services. It's a federal grant given by the Department of Transportation. It ensures small rural airports receive air services.
Fischer says it was pulled in 2017.
"We had the ridership, so folks were utilizing the airline that was here in the past. Unfortunately, it seems like the service took a toll on us at the end," Fischer said.
That's why they're conducting a service recovery program study. It will let them get travel data on where they can expect to draw passengers from. It also shows where travelers are flying.
"There are certain criteria to maintain that, so one of the criteria is ten enplanements per service day," Fischer says. "You also have to be within a certain miles away from a medium hub airport. At the time, Buffalo was a medium-hub airport, so we didn't meet the criteria."
Not to mention, The Chautauqua Institute brings in tourists. The National Comedy Museum does too. The two locations give Fischer a good feeling plans will fall into place.
"The value of airports in general, with or without commercial air service, and what that brings to the community is hard to put a number on," Fischer said.