The United States’ Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) will allow passengers at airports across the country to keep their footwear on as they go through security checkpoints, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters Tuesday.
The new policy is nationwide and takes effect immediately, said Noem, whose department oversees the TSA.
While the rule may not apply to passengers who need additional layers of screening, Noem said, it will be the norm for most people going forward.
“With this no-shoes policy, we anticipate that Americans and travelers and those coming into our country will be very excited they will no longer have to remove their shoes,” she said.
Noem attributed the change to a review of the agency’s security and screening protocols that determined which were effective. Passengers will still pass through what Noem described as a multilayered screening and identity verification process before they can board planes.
A senior government official told NBC News earlier that the policy would apply to passengers only at selected airports, though it could expand nationwide in the near future.
Nicholas Calio, CEO of Airlines for America, a trade association, applauded the move, saying it will go a “long way in facilitating smooth, seamless and secure travel for passengers and is welcome news to the millions of people who fly every day.”
“Making security decisions that are informed by risk assessments and based on leveraging advanced technologies is a commonsense approach to policy change,” Calio said.
Shoe removal has been part of the airport experience since 2006, when the TSA instituted the requirement, citing intelligence indicating a “continuing threat” of explosives.
The rule came after Richard Reid tried — and failed — to ignite his homemade shoe explosives on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami on Dec. 22, 2001.
Reid’s plan was disrupted when he struggled to light a fuse attached to his shoes, which contained roughly 10 ounces of explosive material, according to the FBI.
He was subdued by passengers and crew members and taken into custody when the flight diverted to Logan International Airport in Boston.
Reid pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and is serving a life sentence at a “Supermax” prison in Colorado.
After the bombing attempt, the shoe removal rule was implemented, then relaxed, then resurrected.
The requirement has apparently remained annoying enough that the TSA released an advertisement in October for its fee-based PreCheck service, which featured four people endorsing their membership for a single reason: They didn’t have to take their shoes off at the airport.
“It’s my favourite thing,” one of them said
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