That's comforting to Maggie Smedley, whose parents are deaf. She knows firsthand the pitfalls faced by travelers with hearing problems.

"Many don't dare go to the bathroom or get any food because they might miss when the flight is going to board," said Smedley, director of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Service in Grand Rapids. "They become as dependent as children."

The technology is known as a hearing loop. It allows small receivers, now available in more than half of all hearing aids and Cochlear implants, to pick up sounds directly from a microphone, television or telephone.

"This is sort of to hearing aids what Wi-Fi is to a lap top," said Dr. David Myers, a Hope College professor who has written about living with hearing loss. "It becomes a customized in-the-ear loudspeaker."

Myers said the technology is widely used at United Kingdom airports, but is not available in any American airports.

"If the airport does this, it would be a national model," Myers said.

The idea to include the technology in the airport's new public address system came after Aeronautics Director James Koslosky read about it in a magazine. Because the airport planned to spend $115,000 upgrading public-address software anyway, Koslosky figured adding a hearing loop would be a natural fit.

To get the Aeronautics Board to support the plan, Koslosky invited Vic Krause, a hearing-aid user and former state representative, to talk to members at a recent meeting. He also is a volunteer with the local Hearing Loss Association of America.

Krause told the group how the technology has "dramatically changed" his life and will make a big difference to the 35,000 people in Kent County -- and 33 million nationwide -- with hearing loss.

"I met with 12 people (with hearing loss) to talk about this issue, and every one of them has had some kind of experience where they've missed a flight or didn't know where to go," Krause said.

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