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Travellers no longer have to remove their shoes during security screenings at US airports

Published:Wednesday | July 9, 2025 | 10:36 AM
In this August 3, 2011 photo, an experienced airline passenger holds his shoes and has an unloosened belt while waiting to go through the Transportation Security Administration security checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, in Atl
Erik S. Lesser
In this August 3, 2011 photo, an experienced airline passenger holds his shoes and has an unloosened belt while waiting to go through the Transportation Security Administration security checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser, File)

Travellers racing to catch a flight at United States airports no longer are required to remove their shoes during security screenings, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday.

Noem said the end of the ritual put in place almost 20 years ago was immediately effective nationwide.

She said a pilot programme showed the Transportation Security Administration had the equipment needed to keep airports and aircraft safe while allowing people to keep their shoes on.

“I think most Americans will be very excited to see they will be able to keep their shoes on, and it will be a much more streamlined process,” Noem said.

While shoe removal no longer is standard procedure at airport security checkpoints, some travellers still may be asked to take off their footwear “if we think additional layers of screening are necessary,” she added.

The travel newsletter Gate Access first reported that the TSA planned to make the security screening change soon.

Security screening sans shoes became a requirement in 2006, several years after “shoe bomber” Richard Reid’s failed attempt to take down a flight from Paris to Miami in late 2001.

All passengers between the ages of 12 and 75 were required to remove their shoes, which were scanned along with carry-on bags and other separated items such as outerwear.

Travellers previously were able to skirt the requirement if they participated in the TSA PreCheck programme, which costs around $80 for five years. The programme allows airline passengers to get through the screening process without taking off their shoes, belts or light jackets, and without having to take their laptops and bagged toiletries out.

PreCheck will remain the easier option for the time being since people going through regular screening stations still will have to put items besides shoes on a conveyor belt for scanning, Noem said.

TSA plans to review other rules and procedures to see how airport screenings can be simplified and expedited, she said.

The agency is testing separate lanes for military personnel and families with young children, and expects to pilot other changes in the next six to eight months, Noem said.

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