Travellers racing to catch a flight at US airports no longer are required to remove their shoes during security screenings, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport, Ms Noem said the end of the ritual put in place almost 20 years ago was effective nationwide immediately. She said a pilot programme showed the Transport Security Administration had the equipment needed to keep airports and aircraft safe while allowing people to keep their shoes on.
"In those 20 years since that policy was put in place, our security technology has changed dramatically. It's evolved. TSA has changed. We have a multi-layered whole of government approach now to security," she said.
"We are very confident that we can continue to provide hospitality to folks and for American travellers and for those visiting our country, while maintaining the same standard of security for passengers and for our homeland."
While removing shoes is no longer standard procedure, some travellers still may be asked to take off their footwear “if we think additional layers of screening are necessary”, Ms Noem said.
All passengers between the ages of 12 and 75 were required to remove their shoes, which were scanned along with carry-on luggage.
Travellers were previously able to skirt the requirement if they took part in the TSA PreCheck programme, which costs about $80 for five years. The programme allows airline passengers to get through the screening process without removing shoes, belts or light jackets, and without having to take their laptops and bagged toiletries out.
Security screening without 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.
Past attacks – both successful and thwarted – led to new airport security measures in recent decades, especially after the September 11, 2001 attacks, in which hijackers flew passenger jets into the Twin Towers in New York. and the Pentagon.
The TSA was founded two months after the 9/11 attacks under president George W Bush. The agency included federal airport screeners that replaced the private companies airlines had used to handle security.
Over the years the TSA has continued to look for ways to enhance its security measures, including testing facial recognition technology and introducing Real ID requirements.
