SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Travelers will no longer have to take off their shoes while going through airport security checkpoints, ending a nearly 20-year policy that has been a source of frustration for many passengers.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the change on Tuesday, saying it will enhance the travel experience while maintaining security standards.
"We are very confident that we can continue to provide hospitality to folks and for American travelers and for those visiting our country while still maintaining the same standard of security for passengers and for our Homeland," Noem said.
For travelers at airports across the country, the news comes as a welcome relief.
"I'm so excited to hear this," said Jennifer Bladel, a traveler at the airport.
She believes the change will significantly improve the airport experience.
"It's always a problem. You have to get to the airport so much earlier than your actual flight. This will help tremendously speed up the line," Bladel said.
Shannon Bernstein shared a more personal benefit of keeping her shoes on.
"My feet are always cold, so now I can wear my boots or my sneakers and be comfortable and toasty," Bernstein said.
The shoe removal requirement was implemented in 2006, following a terrorism attempt several years earlier.
"Just a couple of months after Sept. 11, the British terrorist by the name of Richard Reid, boarded a plane in Paris headed for Miami, and tried to light his shoes on fire because he had packed plastic explosives into his shoes and was trying to blow up the plane," said Ron Bee, a national security expert.
Bee explained that advances in security technology have made the shoe removal policy obsolete.
"I think they've improved the technology that you walk through, and they can certainly detect if there's something funky going on, and anything that's in a shoe that's metal, or in this case, a plastic explosive, can probably be detected," Bee said.
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