The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is ending its decades-long policy of having passengers take off their shoes at airport security checkpoints, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Tuesday.
Noem, in confirming recent media reports about the development, announced the policy reversal at a news conference at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington.
“Today, we have started a new no-shoes policy” with the TSA, Noem said.
For more than 20 years, passengers have been mandated to take off their shoes to screen for explosives, the rule coming after a British passenger, Richard Reid, attempted to detonate explosives tucked into his shoes in a 2001 incident on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami.
Reid, dubbed by the media as the “shoe bomber,” is alleged to have been a member of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization. Reid was sentenced to three life imprisonment terms without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty in federal court in 2002, and he’s currently serving time at the ADX Florence maximum-security prison in Colorado.
Travelers have previously been able to skirt the extra security requirement if they participate in the TSA PreCheck program, which costs around $80 for five years. The program allows airline passengers to get through the screening process without removing their shoes, belts, or light jackets.
All other passengers between the ages of 12 and 75 are required to remove their shoes, which are scanned along with carry-on luggage. Passengers are usually expected to place their shoes and the contents of their pockets, including cellular phones and wallets, backpacks, and other items, in plastic trays to be screened by TSA officials.
For years, the TSA has also required passengers to remove laptop computers from bags and place them in separate bins for screening.
Travelers are allowed to bring liquids, aerosols, gels, pastes, and creams in their carry-on bags, as long as they do not exceed 3.4 ounces. Bottled water, coffee, juice, and other liquids also cannot exceed 3.4 ounces, according to the TSA.
The TSA prohibits firearms, ammunition, tasers and stun guns, most types of knives, axes, pickaxes, and a number of other weapons from being taken on board in carry-on bags. Boxcutters or X-ACTO knives, which federal officials said were used in the 9/11 terror hijackings, are also prohibited from being taken on board, the TSA says. Baseball bats also cannot be carried on planes by passengers.
Pepper spray, mace, and some other types of self-defense sprays are permitted inside carry-on bags, according to the TSA. The agency says that fireworks cannot be carried on planes in any capacity.
The TSA was established in 2001 when President George W. Bush signed legislation for its creation months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. TSA was set up to screen passengers before getting on planes, replacing private companies that had previously handled airport security.
Soon after taking office in January, President Donald Trump ousted TSA Administrator David Pekoske in the middle of a second five-year term. Pekoske was appointed by Trump in his first term and reappointed by President Joe Biden.
The administrator position remains vacant, according to the TSA’s website. The top official in the TSA appears to be Deputy Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill, who is delegated the full authority to act on behalf of the administrator, the site shows.
The Epoch Times has contacted both DHS and the TSA for comment but received no response as of Tuesday afternoon.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
