Some say commercial-air service at the Chautauqua County Airport ended because the passenger count plummeted.

Yet that misses the point. What’s worse is that it misstates the problem. The real cause wasn’t that the passenger count plummeted. Rather, the real cause was that the quality of the commercial-air service declined.

Let’s repeat that: The real cause was that the quality of the commercial-air service declined.

If the quality hadn’t declined, the passenger count wouldn’t have plummeted, and commercial-air service would have remained.

Good commercial-air service can flourish again at our airport.

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With that in mind, let’s pick up where we left off on May 12, 2023, with the welcome news that Chautauqua County government was taking a step toward resuming commercial-air service at our airport.

The step was to study our commercial-air-service market. Such a study is a prerequisite to resuming commercial-air service via the federal government’s Essential Air Services program.

In August, September, and October 2024, the Chautauqua County airport commission heard that one phase of the study is complete, progress toward resuming commercial-air service is under way, and a presentation to the county legislature is forthcoming on a yet-to-be-announced date.

Airport-commission members and others supporting commercial-air service at our airport deserve tremendous credit for their efforts.

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This is a good time to remind ourselves of what decades of experience with commercial-air service at our airport have taught us. It’s this simple: Good commercial-air service succeeds. Bad commercial-air service fails. To succeed, commercial-air service must be good.

This is also a good time to remind ourselves not of our wish list for great service but of the non-negotiable minimum for good service.

Can we compromise? Yes, above the minimum, not below it. You can bet your boots that commercial-air service below the minimum will fail. We’ve been there and done that.

No more.

Nor should we start with commercial-air service below the minimum and aspire to build up to the minimum. That will also fail. We’ve been there and done that too.

No more.

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Decades of experience with commercial-air service at our airport have taught us that the minimum includes all–all–of the following:

– Service on, or sufficiently connected with, a major airline to a hub airport of the major airline. Flying to and from a major-airline hub without making a connection minimizes the number of connections one must make. Since Buffalo, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh aren’t hubs, flights to and from those airports are unacceptable.

– Good airplanes. We don’t need and won’t get big jets. Yet no one wants to fly on something that is slightly sturdier than a washing machine or looks like it belongs on the Flintstones.

– An airplane at our airport overnight. That means the early flight out won’t be cancelled only because the airplane comes from elsewhere and can’t land in early-morning fog.

– Early flights out and late flights in. Such flights allow passengers to get where they’re going without taking a bite out of the middle of their day.

– Service otherwise frequent enough to meet the needs of our airport’s market. We don’t need hourly flights, even on weekdays. Yet we do need enough flights.

– Service priced competitively with service to and from Erie and Buffalo. Passengers are willing to pay a little more to avoid driving to and from Erie or Buffalo. But not hundreds of dollars more. For hundreds of dollars, they’ll drive to Erie or Buffalo. For that much, some will drive even to Cleveland or Pittsburgh.

– Luggage-checking service between our airport and final destinations. Passengers don’t want to check bags an extra time just to fly to or from our airport.

– Reliable service. No form of transportation is foolproof. Not even close. Yet it must be as reliable as service to and from Erie and Buffalo.

– Rebooking service at our airport to final destinations, and vice versa. When passengers flying to or from Erie or Buffalo need to change the itinerary along the way, they can–in one step at any airport anywhere along the way–do so all the way through to their final destinations. Passengers flying to or from our airport must be able to do the same. Each passenger will be well advised to book, and should be able to book, all of the passenger’s flights–including any flight to or from our airport–on one ticket.

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Don’t be surprised when some oppose our taking part in the Essential Air Services program and assert, in support of their position, that the program is a government subsidy.

Yes, it’s a government subsidy. Even Adam Smith recognized that government stepping into the free market is acceptable when the free market fails.

We particularly don’t need lectures about the free market from people who are glad for government subsidies of projects they support.

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Dr. Randy Elf’s May 12, 2023, column on commercial-air service at the Chautauqua County Airport is at https://www.post-journal.com/opinion/local-commentaries/2023/05/good-air-service-will-succeed-again and https://www.observertoday.com/opinion/commentary/2023/05/good-air-service-can-succeed-in-county.

COPYRIGHT (c) 2024 BY RANDY ELF