Breeze Airways flights could give Westmoreland County travelers something they have missed: a reason to begin a trip close to home.

At Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity, an announced two-year agreement calls for service to Myrtle Beach and Orlando two days a week.

For an airport that lost its only scheduled carrier, the prospect of passengers returning is welcome news.

It also brings a question that local leaders cannot afford to set aside: what happens if one airline leaves again?

The Spirit Airlines departure removed more than flights from a timetable.

Travelers had to rethink plans, consider longer drives and adjust to the loss of a nearby option.

When scheduled passenger service ended, the airport also lost its federal security-screening presence.

A charter operator that had used Unity then moved its regular operations to other airports, showing how one loss can spread.

That experience makes the Breeze announcement both encouraging and a reminder of how exposed the airport has been.

For families around Latrobe, Greensburg and the rest of Westmoreland County, a nearby departure can make travel simpler.

It can spare passengers a longer drive before they ever reach a security line or boarding gate.

Businesses also have a stake in regional airport flights, especially when employees or visitors need dependable ways to travel.

Not every traveler is headed to Myrtle Beach or Orlando, and a twice-weekly schedule will not meet every need.

Still, those routes would put commercial service back on the airport's calendar and give residents another choice.

The return of flights, however, is a starting point rather than a complete recovery.

The Westmoreland County Airport Authority now has an opportunity to build a broader plan while attention is returning to Unity.

That means continuing conversations with other passenger carriers instead of treating one agreement as the final answer.

It also means looking seriously at charter activity and other aviation businesses that could use the airport's facilities.

Each type of operation has different needs, and none can simply be added by wishful thinking.

But a wider mix could leave the airport less vulnerable when one company changes course.

Another regional airport in Johnstown shows that scheduled service can exist alongside charter flying and other aviation operations.

Unity's circumstances are its own, but the comparison points toward possibilities beyond selling seats on vacation flights.

That matters at an airport that has undergone a substantial renovation and needs sustained activity to make the most of its facilities.

Residents have already seen how quickly a familiar travel option can disappear.

They should be able to expect careful planning, not an assumption that a new carrier removes every risk.

For Breeze, success will depend partly on whether the available routes fit how people in this area actually travel.

For airport leaders, the test is broader: keeping service useful while building relationships that can survive an airline's departure.

Neither goal will be settled by the first flight or by a single busy travel season.

Westmoreland County has good reason to welcome the chance to fly from Unity again.

It has just as much reason to ask what else the airport can become.

Arnold Palmer understood the value of being prepared for more than one kind of challenge.

The airport bearing his name should take the same approach, even as it celebrates a promising addition to its schedule.

A stronger future will depend on having more options than one airline can provide.