Airports, Assistive Listening Systems

Assistive listening systems work – and can help to take some of the worry and stress out of traveling through airports, and replace it with reassurance and comfort when you can understand what is happening.

Hear the Difference a Hearing Loop Makes: Airport Boarding Call (video, 20 seconds)

Hearing Loop Systems/Parkway Electric

Gerald R. Ford International Airport Concourse with hearing loop sign on wall

Gerald R. Ford International Airport
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Hearing loops at both concourses and all gate areas. See press release (PDF)

airport baggage claim carousels with line of people

Airport simulation in and out of the hearing loop Starkey audio clips: airport baggage claim, airport ticketing area, and information desk (website, each clip is 16-31 seconds)

Eugene OR ticket counter. The front of the service desk displays the blue hearing loop sign.

Eugene Airport (Mahlon Sweet Field), Oregon

The front of the gate service desk displays the blue hearing loop sign.

Travel is fun!  It broadens our world and exposes us to people, cultures, and environments we may not see in our own backyard. For the hard of hearing, though, travel can also be extremely stressful. Background noises, cavernous rooms, and competing announcements make it difficult to hear clearly. Missing gate announcements or misunderstanding the boarding gate number – all of these things happen routinely when we travel. If you hear well, travelers adapt and cope with unpredictable changes. However, if you don’t hear well, it adds to the inherent stresses of travel and can turn joyful anticipation into frustration and fear. Assistive listening systems can make the airport announcements more understandable.

Possible Assistive Listening System Locations

In such transient settings, as in other transient sites, alternative listening systems are impractical. One just isn’t going to check out an infrared receiver and headphones at Detroit Metro Airport’s Gate C27. But with a hearing loop, all a person needs to do is to click a button on their hearing aid or cochlear implant and instantly be able to hear more clearly!

  • Airport departure gate waiting areas
  • Airport service desks (baggage claim, customer service, departure gate service counters, ticketing counters, visitor information)
  • Airport waiting rooms
  • Public meetings about airport improvements

Consumer

Accessible Travel Services for Consumers

  • Specific Airline. When you purchase airline tickets, you can notify the airline of your hearing loss/hard of hearing disability. In the reservation’s disability section, simply select the checkbox for ‘hard of hearing’. This disability information is then included in your reservation and notifies the airline that you may need some type of communication assistance during your preboarding, in-flight, and any emergencies, as well as setting the stage for your future accommodation requests for your specific individual needs.
  • Program. Hidden Disabilities Sunflower. A simple tool for you to voluntarily share that you have a disability or condition that may not be immediately apparent – and that you may need a helping hand, understanding, or more time in shops, at work, on transport, or in public spaces.

Federal Resources

  • Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (Signed May 16, 2024). FAA-Reauthorization Act of 2024 ( 2 paragraphs, 1 page, pdf) – “Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act…that ensure all gates (including counters), ticketing areas, and customer service desks covered under such section at airports are accessible to and usable by all individuals with disabilities”
  • National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
  • U.S. Department of Transportation. DRC Handbook Chapter 5: Program Access (webpage)

Resources-by Center for Hearing Access