Travellers leaving the United States no longer have to worry about removing their shoes to go through standard airport security checkpoints, a change that will likely speed up screening for airline passengers.
The US Transportation Security Administration or TSA recently updated its policies to make the change, said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a press conference.
This move extends a benefit that’s already available to individuals who pay for TSA PreCheck to most ordinary travellers.
TSA’s reversal ends a policy that has been for nearly two decades one of the most visible – and criticised – features of the post-9/11 heightened US airport security system.
Critics, who’ve long dismissed the shoe rule as more security theatre than actual security, have also faulted the policy for increasing wait times at security checkpoints at American airports.
The change also puts the US in line with most other global aviation hubs including the European Union, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and Singapore, which typically don’t require travellers to take off their shoes when going through airport security.
The US requirement to remove footwear was made mandatory in August 2006 – following a failed attempt in 2001 by “shoe bomber” Richard Reid to ignite explosives packed in one of his sneakers on an American Airlines flight.
On July 8, Noem at the press conference said that the new policy was effective immediately, nationwide.
According to a report by The Associated Press, Noem said that a pilot program showed the TSA had the equipment needed to keep airports and aircraft safe while allowing people to keep their shoes on. – Bloomberg
