A study regarding commercial air service at the Jamestown airport will be released next week, although officials warn the study won’t necessarily state if commercial air service should return or not.

According to Airports Manager Shannon Fischer, at the Chautauqua County Legislature’s monthly meeting, which is set for Dec. 18, the consultants who the county hired to do a market study back in the spring of 2023 will be giving a presentation.

Fischer told members of the legislature’s Public Facilities Committee meeting that the presentation will be about 20 minutes long. She has asked for an executive summary in writing as well.

Legislator Bob Scudder, R-Fredonia, who often votes against accepting airport funding from the state or federal governments, said he is looking forward to the presentation. He said he votes against outside funding because “it keeps us in the airport business.”

“For me, personally, if I had a plan in place it would make me a lot more apt to vote in favor of funding because I would know a direction that we’re going. Just being in the airport business isn’t good enough for me,” Scudder said.

But Fischer warned Scudder that’s not necessarily what this presentation will address.

“This from day one, has been a data driven study to help us provide the data we need to apply for Essential Air Service funding, which is what we lost when the air carrier left last time,” she said.

Jamestown lost commercial service when the federal Transportation Department terminated Essential Air Service eligibility for Jamestown on Jan. 16, 2018. That decision was made 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.

Fischer said they have a 20-year master plan for the airports that gets updated annually.

“I don’t know what you’re looking for in a plan. This is not like an end all, be all,” she said.

Instead, the data will be used in the county’s attempt to get Essential Air Service funding once again.

She hopes to apply for the Essential Air Service designation in January.

Fischer said even if the county is denied Essential Air Service funding, there are still other ways to bring commercial air service back to Jamestown. She noted there are other grants the county could seek and could partner with county businesses.

“EAS is not the only option for funding. It’s the best for me because we don’t have to ask for community dollars, other than marketing,” she said.