It’s now OK to keep your shoes on through airport security, a change almost 20 years in the making. At Logan Airport, some passengers say it’s about time while others question why now?
“I think taking your shoes off and then walking through a public space is kind of dirty. So, I’m just glad you don’t’ have to do that anymore,” said passenger Paul Clifford.
Finally, shoes stay on and so do the smiles, making airport security one step easier.
“I’m just happy I don’t have to take my shoes off anymore it is kind of a pain. If they can streamline this more that’s better,” said passenger Debbie Dezee.
Those were some of the gripes Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem says they heard. Now passengers traveling through domestic airports don’t have to take their shoes off while going through TSA security screening.
“We want to improve this travel experience, but while maintaining safety standards and making sure that we are keeping people safe,” said Noem.
Policy in place since 2006
While some welcomed the news, they also questioned the timing of the rule that’s been in place since 2006, years after Richard Reid, also known as the “shoe bomber” tried and failed to detonate explosives hidden in his shoes aboard an American Airlines flight in 2001.
The flight was going from Paris to Miami, but it was diverted to Boston after crew members and passengers subdued Reid.
“Has that gone away? Or has it ever happened again? Why has this changed happened?” asked passenger Julie Martin.
TSA confident in screening technology
Noem says TSA is confident in how screening technology has evolved.
“Our security technology has changed dramatically. It has evolved. TSA has changed,” Noem said. “We have a multi-layered, a whole of government approach now to security and to the environment that people anticipate and experience when they come into an airport that has been honed and it’s been hardened.”
Noem said passengers will still pass through multiple layers of screening and identity verification.
Noem said removing items like a belt, coat or items out of a bag such as laptops or liquids are still in effect, but Homeland Security is reviewing the rules.
“I’m hoping that after 9/11 and everything, that we are calming down and things are getting better and maybe have larger tubes of toothpaste,” said passenger Julie Martin. “That would be nice too?”
Travelers who have TSA PreCheck already don’t have to take their shoes off, but it costs about $80, and you submit a pre-screening application.
Tammy MutasaTammy Mutasa joined WBZ-TV as a multi-skilled journalist in January 2023.
