Sky Harbor Airport’s initiatives to help those who are visually and hearing impaired has been recognized with a Smart Cities North America Award.

IDC Government Insights’ sixth annual award is a tribute to the airport’s commitment “to ensuring that all travelers have the best possible trip,” Mayor Kate Gallego said.

“These new innovations improve accessibility and empower travelers so that they can have a more welcoming and positive experience.” 

In 2022, Sky Harbor launched a free service called Aira to support those who are blind or have low vision.

Aira uses a mobile app to assist passengers with a variety of needs, including moving through the airport, finding gates and reading flight information screens.

The app connects users with trained visual interpreters who use live-streamed video to translate visual information into descriptive audio, according to a city release.

Also in 2022 the airport added hearing loops to its new Terminal 4 Eighth Concourse. With the recent expansions, Phoenix Sky Harbor has more than 85,000 square feet of hearing loops in Terminal 3 and another 25,000 in Terminal 4, the release stated.

The loops improve accessibility for hearing-aid users by connecting directly to the public address system.

Sky Harbor’s award was in the digital equity and accessibility category.

The Smart Cities Awards are designed to recognize the progress states and municipalities have made in executing Smart City projects and provide a forum for sharing ideas.

“I’m so proud that the Aviation Department has been recognized for its work to help people to travel how they want and to make that process as easy as possible,” Councilwoman Debra Stark said.

Stark is chair of the city's Transportation, Infrastructure and Planning Subcommittee. 

“We first started discussing Aira after I had a conversation with one of my constituents who uses the service, and it's great to see what a big difference this technology can make for Sky Harbor's passengers.”