The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is in the midst of an administrative review of its shoe removal policy at airport security checkpoints. This policy has dated back to 2007. This decision comes on the heels of our implementation of increased security measures. We responded with one of the many infamous Richard Reid shoe bomber explosives in shoes at 22nd, December, 2001.
Reid’s goal was to detonate homemade shoe explosives aboard American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami. He couldn’t get the fuse he had tied to each of his shoes lit. The explosives contained the equivalent of about 10 ounces of an extremely dangerous ingredient. Alert passengers and crew members wasted no time in tackling, restraining and subduing him. Because of this, the flight was diverted to Logan International Airport in Boston. Subsequently, Reid faced serious legal consequences, pleading guilty to terrorism charges and receiving a life sentence at a high-security “Supermax” prison in Colorado.
Once Reid’s plot was foiled, the TSA went on the offensive. They only enforced the shoe removal requirement as a way to increase airport security as one piece of a broader strategy. The agency referenced intelligence suggesting a “persistent threat” of ordinance as the reason for implementing this policy. As a result, for the last 19 years, travelers have had to take off their shoes while being screened.
Of late, though, some airports have started to permit travelers to leave their shoes on while going through security. This major change is evidence of the decades-long debate between implementing stringent security procedures while keeping the traveling public moving and flowing. The TSA has released an advertisement promoting its fee-based PreCheck service, which allows members to bypass some security requirements, including shoe removal.
One visitor in the commercial declared, “It’s my favorite thing! One possible explanation is the allure of trading the hassle of taking off shoes while traversing through airport security for life without those burdens.
Passengers are experiencing extreme wait times at JWA, pictured here on May 7th, 2025. At the same time, the TSA is reconsidering the effectiveness of existing security policies in striking the right balance between security imperatives and the need to create a more efficient and comfortable passenger experience.