The Transportation Security Administration may have done away with one of its most irksome security checkpoint requirements. Travel bloggers and recent fliers are reporting that TSA is no longer requiring passengers to remove their shoes while passing through airport security — a privilege previously extended only to travelers with TSA PreCheck, children, and the elderly.
“You heard it here first,” a former TSA agent turned travel blogger, Caleb Marshall, proclaimed on YouTube over the weekend. “Travelers should expect to keep their shoes on at all U.S. airports starting tomorrow, July 7.”
The new protocol reportedly does not extend to passengers who are unable to present a form of identification that meets the federal REAL ID standards.
TSA has not officially announced the change, nor has it updated its online security screening guide. An official with the TSA, asked by the Sun via email about any changes in policy, declined to answer the question directly.
“TSA and DHS are always exploring new and innovative ways to enhance the passenger experience and our strong security posture,” the official said. “Any potential updates to our security process will be issued through official channels.”
The shoe policy was introduced in 2001 after Richard Reid, dubbed the “Shoe Bomber,” attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his shoes while aboard a transatlantic flight. The would-be bomber was subdued by passengers and crew members after they noticed him struggling to light the fuse.
The shoe bomber incident came just nine months after the deadly September 11, 2001, attacks and the policy was implemented as part of a broader security crackdown in airports.
Mr. Marshall is chalking up the policy change to “politics, not security.” In a post on his travel Substack, the former TSA agent noted, “A handful of lawmakers have recently ramped up criticism of the TSA, with some even floating the idea of dismantling the agency altogether. From complaints about long lines to inconsistent screening experiences, the pressure has been mounting.”
Indeed, this past March, Senators Lee and Tuberville introduced a bill that seeks to “dissolve the bloated and ineffective” TSA in favor of creating a new Office of Aviation Security Oversight to “provide the safest, most efficient, and least intrusive security measures.”
Other travel insiders cite an internal TSA memo that allegedly claims modern scanning equipment is able to detect potential hazards without requiring shoes to be removed.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
