Beyond the Robot Voice: A New Generation of Airport Announcements Takes Flight

The transformation of text-to-speech technology in recent years represents a fundamental shift in how airports communicate with passengers. What began as pre-recorded announcements that relied heavily on voice talents—creating lengthy delays whenever updates were needed—has evolved into remarkably natural, human-like speech powered by advanced neural networks.

Modern airport systems now offer cloud-based solutions that integrate real-time flight data through dynamic placeholders, allowing announcements to automatically pull the most current information about gates, destinations, and boarding calls without human intervention. These AI-powered platforms with proper advanced multilingual voices can switch effortlessly between multiple languages and dialects, ensuring international passengers hear their names pronounced correctly.

Yet with all these technical capabilities at their disposal, airports now face a new kind of decision: which TTS technology will power their passenger communication infrastructure for years to come?

Why Does Ava Sound So Different From Previous Generations?

In June, passengers at Harrisburg International Airport were for the first time guided by a new AI-powered assistant. Meet Ava: a female neural TTS voice that can switch between languages seamlessly while maintaining consistent voice quality. The change from Ava's predecessor, Jenny—a representative of an earlier generation of Microsoft Azure's TTS solutions—is unmistakable.

Where Jenny carried a distinctly robotic quality, Ava delivers announcements with natural pauses, subtle breathing patterns, and conversational flow. The voice was designed using advanced machine learning models, making it nearly indistinguishable from human recordings.

Like all multilingual voices, Ava can speak in the auto-detected language of the input text without using SSML (Speech Synthesis Markup Language), though the system also supports SSML for fine-grained control when needed.

What Makes This Technology Sound So Natural?

The technical foundation behind voices like Ava represents a significant departure from traditional speech synthesis technology. Unlike conventional TTS systems that break down prosody into separate linguistic analysis and acoustic prediction steps, neural networks process speech patterns holistically.

Modern neural voice synthesis employs deep learning models that:

• Convert text into phoneme sequences

• Predict acoustic features including timbre, speaking style, and stress patterns

• Generate natural audio waveforms through advanced vocoders

This integrated approach maintains consistent quality across different languages—crucial for international airports where multilingual capabilities are essential. The result is speech that adapts seamlessly to any text input, eliminating the jarring transitions that plagued older systems.

Evolving Passenger Expectations for Airport Communication

Today's travelers arrive at airports with heightened expectations. Accustomed to conversing with Siri, Google Assistant or their AI assistants, they expect synthetic voices to sound natural and clear. But beyond consumer expectations, there are practical considerations.

Older travelers, non-native English speakers, and those with hearing difficulties rely heavily on clear announcements in noisy terminal environments. When gate changes, boarding calls, or safety instructions are delivered naturally, passengers retain information better and navigate more confidently.

The operational impact is measurable:

• Fewer missed boarding calls

• Reduced passenger confusion during irregular operations

• Decreased demands on gate agents

• Improved flow through security and boarding areas

Proven Results Across Our Airport Network

Harrisburg International Airport served as the pilot for our first successful airport-wide voice migration, but Ava had already proven herself at Boise Airport and Friedman Memorial Airport, two recent additions to our North American client network.

Teresa McGoffin from Friedman Memorial Airport, where gate agents use our integrated announcement system, shares their experience: "The microphone stations with touch screens have been great for our gate staff - they pick the boarding announcement, and the text-to-speech plays in both English and Spanish automatically. The speech sounds natural and now we can communicate more effectively with our Spanish speaking customers."

The upgrade has now been rolled out across all of our Airport CX customers, demonstrating the scalability and reliability of the neural TTS technology. Building on positive experiences across our entire network, Ava has become the standard for American English and Mexican Spanish voices, with further language expansions planned.

This comprehensive upgrade represents Simpleway's commitment to delivering natural-sounding, reliable, and client-friendly TTS solutions that actually work in real-world airport environments.

How Do These Systems Handle Aviation's Complex Terminology?

One unique challenge in aviation TTS systems is handling industry-specific vocabulary. Airport codes, airline names, gate designations, and international destinations all require precise pronunciation. Traditional systems often struggled, requiring extensive manual configuration.

Our Airport CX TTS editor works with the neural TTS engine to manage aviation terminology effectively. The system uses dynamic placeholders that automatically pull real-time flight information, ensuring announcements always contain current data. This integration handles:

• Context differences (B6 as a gate versus JetBlue's airline code)

• International airport name pronunciations

• Proper formatting of flight-specific elements like times and gate numbers

• Seamless insertion of flight data into natural-sounding announcements

This aviation-aware approach means fewer errors and less manual intervention when new routes or airlines join the system.

Why Does Human Expertise Still Matter?

For Simpleway's voice team, Ava represents a leap forward in reliability. Unlike Jenny, which required frequent adjustments, Ava delivers consistently natural speech with minimal maintenance—but technology alone isn't enough.

Our team continuously monitors and optimizes voice quality across all implementations. While airport operators can handle basic adjustments with training, Simpleway's specialists remain actively engaged, providing:

• Continuous quality monitoring

• Rapid response to complex pronunciation challenges

• Regular neural network improvements

• Dedicated support for airport operations

This hands-on approach ensures faster implementation of voice updates and maintains the highest standards of audio quality across your entire announcement system.

How Does Voice Quality Impact Both Brand and Experience?

Your airport's announcement system shapes both brand perception and passenger experience. Every announcement influences how travelers perceive your facility's professionalism.

Modern airport speech synthesis enhances the passenger journey through:

• Reduced travel anxiety with clear, calming announcements

• Improved wayfinding and reduced confusion

• Greater inclusivity for non-native speakers

• Superior clarity for passengers with hearing difficulties

Simultaneously, it strengthens your brand by:

• Projecting technological sophistication to airline partners

• Demonstrating commitment to accessibility

• Differentiating from competitors using dated systems

• Creating consistency across all passenger touchpoints

This matters when competing for new routes. Airlines evaluate every operational aspect, and state-of-the-art neural TTS demonstrates excellence and passenger focus.

Advancing Toward Universal Airport Accessibility

We're developing an integrated system that combines speech-to-text, translation, and text-to-speech technologies to make airports accessible for everyone.

The concept is straightforward: when an agent makes an announcement, the system transcribes it to text, translates it into multiple languages that can be set based on flight destinations, displays the text on screens throughout the terminal, and uses our neural TTS to generate announcements in those languages.

This means a single announcement can simultaneously reach passengers visually on displays and audibly through speakers—in their own language. It solves the accessibility challenge for passengers with hearing difficulties while addressing language barriers for international travelers.

By connecting speech recognition with neural TTS and translation, airports can ensure critical information reach passengers regardless of language or ability, without requiring multilingual staff at every gate.

This represents the next logical step in our evolution—moving from enhanced voice quality to comprehensive multilingual accessibility.

Taking the Next Step in Airport Communication

The evolution from robotic announcements to natural, intelligent communication represents more than technological progress—it's a strategic opportunity to enhance every aspect of your airport's operations. From reducing passenger stress to improving operational efficiency, modern neural TTS technology delivers measurable benefits that justify the investment.

As we've seen at Harrisburg International, Boise, Friedman Memorial, and across our entire Airport CX network, the transition to advanced neural speech synthesis isn't just about better sound quality. It's about creating an environment where passengers feel informed and confident, where staff can focus on high-value tasks rather than repetitive inquiries, and where your airport's commitment to innovation is evident in every announcement.

The question isn't whether to upgrade your announcement system, but how quickly you can begin benefiting from these advances. With proven implementations and the ongoing support of our specialized voice team, the path to modernization is clear.

Ready to hear the difference for yourself?

Contact Simpleway for a personalized consultation and discover how Ava and our neural TTS technology can transform your airport's communication infrastructure. Let us show you why leading airports are choosing to leave robotic voices behind and embrace the future of passenger communication.

Schedule your consultation today and join the airports that are already speaking naturally to their passengers.