FAQs

Wheelchair service is provided by the airlines. When you make your fight reservation or when you check in for your flight, be sure to tell your airline you will need wheelchair assistance for your trip so it can be added to your entire trip reservation. Please note that during peak times, wheelchair service can be delayed.

Arrivals: For your arrival at PHX, it may be helpful to remind a flight attendant near the end of your flight that you will need a wheelchair upon arrival. Your wheelchair assistant will help you from the gate, retrieve your baggage, and take you to your ground transportation service at the curb or Sky Train.If a family member or friend will be driving to the airport to pick you up, please understand that they are not permitted to wait in their car at the curb of the arrival area of the terminal. If you and all your baggage are not there when your ride pulls up to the curb, the driver will be asked to move along. The driver can wait in any of the cell phone lots until you call saying you are on the curb.

Departures: There are accessible curbside unloading areas for passengers and baggage at each terminal. Look for the yellow hash marks on the road along the curb that indicate an access aisle from the street level up the curb.

Via Curbside drop-off: Some airlines provide skycap service at the curb for limited hours of the day. You can request help with a chair from a skycap. Or you can request a chair at ticketing/check-in.

Parking areas: Airlines do not provide wheelchair service from the parking lots or structures to the terminals.

Phoenix Sky Train: You can use the blue phones on the terminal train platforms to call for your wheelchair service. Note that service may not be immediate.

For security reasons, cars must be attended to at all times. Short-term drop-off permits can be arranged to allow for assisting someone into the terminal to arrange wheelchair assistance. Look for the Airport operations staff on the curbs outside the terminal for help with this permit. If you don’t see anyone, call 602-273-3300 and press 0 for an operator to request someone come to your vehicle. Unattended vehicles are considered a safety concern that can cause major disruption to Airport operations and vacant cars will be cited and/or towed.

- At Terminal 3, use door 2 from the South curb.

- At Terminal 4, use door 26 from the South curb for Southwest Airlines.

- At Terminal 4, use door 23 from the North curb for all other airlines.

The companies that provide wheelchair services have staging areas where passengers are queued for assistance based on their flight departure time. So that means someone with a more immediate flight, may get assistance sooner even if they arrived after you. Wait times will vary and you should allow additional time to arrive at the airport before your departure. The wheelchair staging areas are monitored by supervisors who can make sure assistance is provided for someone needing to use a restroom for an immediate need. However, food and beverage assistance is only available as ‘food to go’ during the transport to/from the gates.

The wheelchair assistant is focused on safely handling your wheelchair and can transport one piece of luggage. You may need to assist by holding a bag on your lap. If you need assistance with additional luggage, you should seek out assistance from the available airline skycaps.

The wheelchair assistant is there to assist you by pushing your wheelchair to ensure your safety. Escorting a child or pet conflicts with this service. Children or pets should remain with you or on your lap through the Airport to your gate or curbside transportation.

All shuttle buses between the terminals and the Rental Car Center have curb-kneeling capacity and are equipped with wheelchair lifts. The wheelchair representatives who helped you from the gate to baggage can assist you to the shuttle bus. Tell the bus driver you will need wheelchair assistance when you arrive at the Rental Car Center. You may need to wait a few minutes when arriving at the Rental Car Center as there is limited wheelchair assistance available.

Arrangements for wheelchair service from the Rental Car Center to the airport should be made directly with the passenger’s selected rental car company. These arrangements can be made in advance by contacting the rental company, or upon arrival at the rental car company’s return car center by requesting to be transported to the terminal for a departing flight. The rental companies may opt to transport the passenger by wheelchair to the terminal shuttle bus where the bus driver can call and request wheelchair assistance at the terminal curb. Or the rental car company may choose to drive the passenger and drop them at the terminal curbside (a fee may be charged for this service). At that point, wheelchair service is available from the curbside skycaps and at the ticket counters.

- The closest access to the airline ticket counters is going to be through a curb-side drop off at the terminals. Entry doors to the terminals are numbered:

- Terminal 3-Doors 3 and 5 on the north curb and 2 and 4 on the south curb all provide the closest access to the ticket counters for the airlines in that terminal.

Terminal 4-Airline ticket counters are on level 2:

- American Airlines-Door 21 or 23, both on the north curb

- Southwest Airlines-Door 24 or 26, both on the south curb

- International Airlines-British Airways, Condor, Eurowings, Volaris or West Jet, Door 27 on the north curb or Door 28 on the south curb

Many types of ground transportation services are available to passengers with disabilities; all services are available at the terminals curbside on the ground level, outside of baggage claim areas. More information is available.

Taxis: Vehicles with lifts are available at the curbs. Request a vehicle with a lift from the taxi dispatcher at curbside, Sunday-Friday, 8 a.m.-12:15 a.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m.-11 p.m. To request taxi assistance after hours, call (602) 273-3473.

Limos or Pre-arranged car service: It’s best to make reservations in advance and inquire about accessibility. Drivers are prohibited from soliciting fares at the terminals. Do not accept a ride without a prearranged reservation. View a list of accessible Pre-arranged car services.

Public Transportation: The PHX Sky Train® provides a convenient and accessible Airport connection to Valley Metro Rail Station at 44th Street and Washington. Valley Metro Rail connects to Valley Metro Bus Service in downtown Phoenix.

Paratransit: Services through local Dial-A-Ride should be made in advance at 602-253-4000 or visit their website.

Hotel and Off-Airport Parking shuttles: Nearby hotels and off-Airport parking facilities offer shuttle service to the Airport. It’s recommended to contact the hotel or parking service in advance to inquire about their wheelchair-accessible shuttle service.

Rental Cars: PHX offers a Rental Car Center with all rental car companies servicing the airport operating from this consolidated facility. A fully accessible shuttle with a wheelchair ramp and curb-kneeling capability departs the terminal curbs approximately every 5 to 7 minutes.

Only ticketed passengers with boarding passes are allowed past security checkpoints. However, some airlines can issue a ‘companion pass’ to a non-traveler to allow that person to accompany a passenger that needs some help to the gate, such as a child traveling alone or a traveler with a disability. Check with the traveler’s airline to see if passes are available.

The PHX Navigators are available to help passengers throughout the terminals. The Navigators wear purple shirts or jackets with an Airport identification badge and name button. They can provide directions, information, and friendly assistance. The Guest Service Representatives at the Airport information desks can also help. And there are Operations Assistants located along the terminal curbs and throughout the terminals that can provide information and assistance.

All airport restrooms are wheelchair accessible offering both an accessible and an ambulatory stall. The family restrooms that accommodate companion care are located throughout the airport. The family restrooms are equipped with adult changing stations that are fixed height with grab bars on the adjacent walls. The family restrooms in the gate areas also have showers to assist with personal cleaning.

The carts are operated by the airlines and the cart service is currently offered in the gate areas of Terminal 4. But they carry a small number of passengers and they cannot be pre-arranged. (NOTE: Cart service has been temporarily suspended.)

Airlines provide this complimentary service, but tipping is customary. The amount of the tip is up to you.

You don’t need a doctor’s note, but it is a good idea to let a security screener know that you have a metal implant. You can notify the screener verbally or in writing. You will go through the advanced imaging screening, not the metal detector. If you alarm through the detector or choose not to be screened, you will undergo a pat-down screening instead. You should allow for additional time as you may need to have a secondary screening.

See what a TSA pat-down procedure may require

Any passenger traveling with a service dog or other traveling pet should have their animal leashed or harnessed and under their control. Moving walkways and escalators are dangerous for animals and you should not take your animals on the PHX moving walkways or escalators. To prevent injury, walk with them using the floor and use elevators to change levels.

Animal relief areas are provided in the terminals, in outdoor locations pre-security near the west end of both terminals. And animals can relieve themselves indoors at the relief areas post-security. Owners are asked to clean up after their animals using the provided Mutt-mitts. The areas are available 24 hours a day: look for this symbol (paw print symbol) on the map.

Before traveling, tell your airline you will be traveling with your service dog to verify any restrictions on size or breeds. Airlines have individual policies and guidelines regarding traveling with animals of any type.

The FAA provides some information about traveling with an animal

The TSA provides some information related to traveling with a guide dog

The TSA offers information about how to navigate the security checkpoints in the airport. At this TSA link, you can choose a situation and see what the TSA advises for preparing for your trip.

If you’d like to let Airport workers know it would be helpful to have additional assistance or a little more time going through the Airport, like at ticketing or security, you can wear a PHX Compassion Cacti lanyard. You’ll need to arrange for the Cacti lanyard prior to coming to the Airport.

• • A paging request can be made at any Information counter throughout the terminals. The page can be requested through a Guest Service Representative or on the Video Relay Service tablet posted at the counters. A page request can also be made online. Pages will be announced in the terminals and will also be displayed visually on screens throughout the Airport.

• • Both Terminals 3 and 4 offer parking in an attached garage that will provide the closest access to the terminal areas. Both terminals are also serviced by the PHX Sky Train, which provides a connection to the East Economy parking garages and parking lots offering lower daily rates.

Passengers who need assistance with grasping the ticket to enter the garages can call the airport’s parking operator at (602) 273-4545. A customer service representative will be dispatched to assist but keep in mind it will take at least 5 to 10 minutes before that assistance will arrive. (If you can wait in your car off to the side, that will assist with traffic flow.)

The airport does not offer free parking to those with disabled parking plates or placards. ADA-designated parking spaces are available in general parking throughout the terminal garages and parking lots and garages. Vehicles that display proper plates or placards may use these spaces and posted rates will apply.

There are accessible parking spaces located in every Sky Harbor parking area, including spaces on every floor of the terminal parking garages, the East Economy parking garages, and near the PHX Sky Train® Station in the East Economy lot. There is an oversized vehicle parking lot east of Terminal 4 that also has accessible parking spaces. At Terminal 3, there are accessible spaces in the garage on every floor with over-height parking available on level one or with permits along the curb of the garage. Please contact the parking office at (602) 273-4545 for a permit. Oversized parking areas are charged at the same rate as terminal garage parking.

Walking times will vary by individual. Some walking distances are outlined below. These approximate distances are measured from the closest security checkpoint to the furthest airline gate in a concourse, so your gate may be closer.

Terminal 3 Checkpoint to E gates (north side) = 910 feet

Terminal 3 Checkpoint to F gates (south side) = 1,475 feet

Terminal 4 Checkpoint A to A gates = 1,405 feet

Terminal 4 Checkpoint B to B Gates = 1,380 feet

Terminal 4 Checkpoint C to C Gates = 1,100 feet

Terminal 4 Checkpoint D to D gates = 337 feet