WASHINGTON – Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello and Congressman Tom Reed recently met in the nation’s capital to discuss a variety of issues, including the lack of airfare between Pittsburgh and Jamestown.
WNYNewsNow asked Reed during a media teleconference Wednesday morning about the re-application process that Boutique Air and Chautauqua County is working on. Reed said that cooperation between public and private entities is key.
“It’s about the number of passengers from private entities that benefit from having an airport there,” Reed said. “It’s about the county committing resources to make sure that they stand with the airport, and that public-private partnership now being extended to the Federal level. You have local, Federal and private all coming together to make that application much more attractive to those in the aviation department to approve.”
The Department of Transportation, in February, rejected an application by Boutique Air and Chautauqua County to re-establish airfare between the two cities. Boutique Air, Borrello and Reed have expressed their commitment to re-establish.
“With our recent route expansion into Pittsburgh, Jamestown makes even more sense now for Boutique Airlines,” said Simpson. “Further, our partnerships with United and American Airlines give us an unprecedented level of service and convenience not seen before in Jamestown, or the southern tier of New York.”
“Thanks to Congressman Reed’s direct engagement with DOT, we have received actionable feedback on how we may adjust and improve our application,” stated Borrello. “That combined with further advocacy and continued bi-partisan support from our federal representatives, should increase the possibility of approval in the future.”
“We are disappointed by this decision, but we would like to thank County Executive George Borrello for all of his hard work to bring commercial air service back to Jamestown,” Reed added. “However, the fight is not over, and we will continue to work together as a team to bring commercial air back to Jamestown.”
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