ik this was already resolved but,
it hardly takes any time to find more elytras once you already have one. I've had one of the most stocked elytra shops and I've found end cities within 30 seconds of each other, and at most within 5 minutes of each other, so the distance def isn't unreasonable. also from my experience there's no reason to restart the end because its hardly even harvested.
additionally, there are player markets that are stocked with elytras - and typically its better that you get a few backups as well in case if they're out.