Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Tuesday that travelers who are rushing to catch a flight at U.S. airports would no longer have to take off their shoes during security checks.
According to Noem, the ceremony that had been in existence for nearly 20 years was abolished countrywide right away. According to her, a pilot experiment demonstrated that the Transportation Security Administration has the tools required to maintain airport and airplane security while permitting individuals to wear their shoes.
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According to Noem, TSA would no longer demand that passengers take off their shoes at security checkpoints.
Even while it’s no longer the norm, she said, some travelers can still be requested to remove their shoes if we believe more screening layers are required.
Several years after shoe bomber Richard Reid’s unsuccessful attempt to take down a flight from Paris to Miami in late 2001, it was made mandatory in 2006.
Along with their carry-on bags, all passengers aged 12 to 75 had to take off their shoes, which were scanned.
The adjustment to security screening was initially announced in the travel newsletter Gate Access.
In the past, travelers could get around the rule by enrolling in the TSA PreCheck program, which costs around $80 for five years. Through the initiative, travelers can pass through security checks without taking off their shoes, belts, or light coats, as well as without removing their laptops and toiletries from their bags.
Two months after the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush signed legislation creating the TSA in 2001. The agency replaced the commercial security firms that airlines had been using with federal airport screeners.
The TSA has been searching for methods to improve its security procedures throughout the years, including testing and putting standards into place.
The TSA at screening checkpoints is one of the main sources of annoyance for travelers. In an April social media post, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy of President Donald Trump questioned the public on what would make travel easier.
Duffy wrote on X the next day, “It’s evident that TSA is the top travel complaint.” The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for that. I’ll talk to @Sec_Noem about this.
Despite having appointed the TSA Administrator during his first tenure in the White House, Trump removed him in January, midway through his second five-year term. President Joe Biden reappointed Pekoske.
Pekoske’s departure was not explained. The TSA website states that the administrator position is still open.
