TSA lets travelers keep their shoes on the airport safety
Traveler is waiting in a long safety line at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
All J. Schaben | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
The transportation security administration has many travelers integrate their shoes at the US airport control points and end an approximately 20-year rule, said Kristi Noem, secretary of the home protection, on Tuesday.
The change will be directly and nationwide, said Noem at a press conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
“We want to improve this travel experience and at the same time maintain the security standards,” said Noem.
The TSA informed industry members about the change on Tuesday on Tuesday, according to the people familiar with the matter.
The agency checked an average of almost 2.5 million people per day last year.
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Most passengers have had to remove their shoes at the security control points of the US airport shoes since 2006. At the time, the TSA stated that it required shoe removal because “intelligence points to a continuing threat”.
After Richard Reid, who became known as the “shoe bomber”, came in December 2001 in his shoe on a flight from Paris to Miami to ignite explosive material.
Travelers who are inscribed in the TSA Precheck program can already switch on their shoes and keep their laptops and similar electronics in their pockets when they are passed through airport control points.
Noem said on Tuesday that airport -screening technology has improved in recent years.
“We looked at how TSA does his business, how it does his screening processes and what we do to make people safe, but also to offer a certain hospitality,” she said.
An air traveler puts his shoes in a trash can before February 20, 2014 in Los Angeles, California, on February 20, 2014, passing through the security check of the transportation Security Administration (TSA) at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty pictures
She also referred to upcoming events such as the World Cup next year and found that the agency was expecting an influx of travelers.
Airlines for America that represent the largest US airlines, including AmericanPresent deltaPresent United And others cheered the decision.
“This change of guidelines will make a major contribution to facilitating smooth, seamless and safe trips for passengers and is a welcome news for millions of people who fly every day,” says a explanation. “To make security decisions based on risk reviews and the use of advanced technologies is a reasonable approach to changing the guidelines.”
