Help celebrate a quarter century of volunteering at America’s Friendliest Airport®
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is proud of its volunteer Navigators every day, but this year we have extra reason to celebrate them.
The Navigator program is marking 25 years of service this year. The program began in November 2000 as an initiative to assist passengers by offering directions and information inside the busy airport terminals.
Since then, the program has expanded dramatically, with more than 1,600 Navigator volunteers donating about 1.6 million hours to assist passengers and visitors. To date this year, more than 357 volunteers have contributed 18,220 hours of service.
As we approach this milestone, select Navigators will be featured on skyharbor.com and in airport newsletters and social media culminating in a celebration of past and current volunteers in November.
Most Navigator volunteers are retirees looking to stay active and assist other people. They come from the ranks of former pilots and airline crewmembers, from medical professions like nurses and doctors, from classrooms, and from the courtroom as former lawyers and judges. Active volunteers fill some of 21 shifts weekly.
Known for offering passengers a hand with directions in the terminals, Navigators also assist with tours, as support guides and with community outreach.
Other volunteers at Phoenix Sky Harbor are at the opposite end of the professional spectrum: the Teen Navigator Volunteer Program accepts high school students 14 years and older to work alongside an experienced Navigator in weekly four-hour shifts during summer for six weeks starting in June.
A very popular segment of the Navigator program is the Navigator Buddies, a therapy dog program at the airport. These furry volunteers give travelers a chance to pet an accredited therapy dog before or after a flight. They help passengers relieve their stress while traveling.
People seeking religious comfort can seek out a Navigator Chaplain, who offer comfort and spiritual guidance.
The volunteer ranks continue to grow: So far in 2025, 31 new Navigators have joined Phoenix Sky Harbor to begin their own journey to helping the tens of millions of passengers who travel through PHX each year, and as of this writing a dozen more have applied to become Navigators and are awaiting the next orientation.
There’s room for more. To learn more about the Phoenix Sky Harbor Navigator and volunteer programs or to start volunteering as yourself, visit skyharbor.com/volunteer.