TSA eliminates airport shoe removal requirement, ending post-9/11 protocol

The next time you fly, you will not need to remove your shoes during security screening.

The major change to post-9/11 protocol that has been an intrinsic part of air travel for nearly 20 years was announced Tuesday afternoon by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, a day after it was implemented at some airports.

"We want to improve this travel experience, but while maintaining safety standards and making sure that we are keeping people safe when they take vacations, travel for work or spend time with their families," Noem said at the news conference. She said the policy was "effective immediately."

Previously, only travelers who participated in the TSA PreCheck program, which costs $80 and requires a background check, could avoid removing their shoes. The new change will apply to most travelers, even those without PreCheck.

On Tuesday, Transportation Security Administration officers at Long Island MacArthur Airport could be seen instructing passengers to keep their shoes on at a screening point.

"Usually I’m standing in line forever," said Sheila Giangrasso, 56, of Nesconset, as she waited to be picked up by her husband outside MacArthur Airport on Tuesday. "But it went really, really fast."

Noem's announcement came a day after the change went into effect at some airports, according to TSA officers. Thomas Schoregge, regional vice president for the TSA union, said they stopped requiring shoe removal at Kennedy Airport on Monday. 

The TSA began requiring travelers to remove their shoes for X-ray screenings in 2006, after Richard Reid, known as the "Shoe Bomber," attempted to blow up a Paris-to-Miami flight with explosives concealed in his footwear in late 2001.

"Everybody has suffered under the weight of that one incident back into December 2001 and now they've decided enough is enough," said Sheldon Jacobson, an aviation security expert and professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Extra security layer with REAL ID

The TSA depends on multiple layers of security, ranging from advanced imaging technologies and X-ray machines at checkpoints to canines and air marshals. It created an additional layer in May when it began requiring passengers to present REAL ID-compliant identification, such as a passport or license with enhanced security features, Jacobson said.

"There's a constant tug-of-war going on between what you do at an airport and how you manage the risk ... REAL ID has brought down risk, the TSA believes ... sufficiently so that shoes being removed is no longer a concern," he said.

Jacobson said the change was "the right thing to do," but questioned the timing, as the TSA has faced recent upheavals. The agency has been without a permanent leader since President Donald Trump fired its administrator, David Pekoske, in January, and the agency announced in March it would no longer honor a collective bargaining agreement with the TSA officers union.

Caleb-Harmon Marshall, a former TSA security officer who authors the Gate Access travel newsletter, which broke the story about shoe removal, said he views the change positively.

"TSA has long had access to the tech needed for this change to happen, and ... travelers should feel relieved knowing that the TSA has the necessary equipment to screen them while their shoes are on," he told Newsday. "This is a great day for travelers!"

As she exited Terminal 5 at Kennedy Airport on Tuesday, Tina Baz, 53, of Brooklyn, said she welcomed the changes and feels confident in new screening technologies.

Plus, "it's kind of gross to take your shoes off," said Baz, who was returning home from Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

Another traveler, Aarti Kakkad, 21, of Georgia, said the change "would be efficient and make things a little faster."

Back at MacArthur, others were frustrated the requirement even existed to begin with.

"You don’t have somebody that’s 75 or 80 years old take their shoes off. It’s just common sense," said 70-year-old A.J. Bolomey, of Wading River, who was preparing to enter the airport for a trip to Tampa, Florida.

Schoregge, the union representative, said for TSA officers, the change amounts to "just another day" at work.

"We do what we have to do, because at the end of the day, we know that we are protecting the lives of the flying public. That's our job," he said.

By Peter Gill

peter.gill@newsday.com