The traveler awaits in a long security line at the John Wayne airport in Santa Ana on Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
Allen J. Schaben | Los Angeles Times | Getty images
The transport security administration will allow many travelers to leave their shoes at the control points of the United States airport, finishing a rule of approximately 20 years, National Secretary of National Security Kristi Noem said Tuesday.
The change will be immediate and national, Noem said at a press conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
“We want to improve this travel experience, maintaining security standards,” Noem said.
The TSA informed the members of the industry about change early, according to people familiar with the matter.
The agency projected an average of almost 2.5 million people per day last year.
Most passengers had required their shoes to be removed at the US airport security points. UU. Since 2006. The TSA at that time said that the extraction of shoes required due to the “intelligence pointing to a continuous threat.”
That occurred after Richard Reid, who became known as the “shoes bomber”, tried and failed to light explosive material in his shoe on a flight from Paris to Miami in December 2001.
Travelers enrolled in the TSA Precheck program can already leave their shoes on and keep their laptops and similar electronic products in their bags when they pass through the airport control points.
Noem said Tuesday that airport detection technology has improved in recent years.
“We take a look at how TSA does its business, how it does its detection processes and what we do to make people safe, but they also provide some hospitality,” he said.
An air traveler places his shoes in a container before going through the security control of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at the Los Angeles International Airport (Lax) on February 20, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.
Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty images
He also pointed out the next events such as the World Cup next year, noting that the agency awaits an influx of travelers.
Airlines for America, which represents the largest, including carriers, including American, Delta, United and others cheered the decision.
“This policy change will contribute greatly to facilitate trips without problems, without problems and safe for passengers and it is good news for the millions of people flying every day,” he said in a statement. “Making informed security decisions for risk assessments and based on taking advantage of advanced technologies is a common sense approach to policy change.”
