(This story was updated to add new information.)
Traveling by air this summer but hate the TSA security screening process? Well, guess what — the procedure just got easier: You won’t have to take your shoes off at security checkpoints.
Unless, that is, you trigger an alarm.
Effective immediately, travelers arriving at TSA checkpoints at airports across the country will not have to remove their shoes as part of the screening process, according to reporting from USA TODAY.
Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees TSA, announced in a press conference on July 8 that the long-standing policy requiring most passengers to remove their shoes is no longer in effect.
“TSA will no longer require travelers to remove their shoes when they go through our security checkpoint,” Noem said.
Only passengers in the TSA PreCheck line were previously allowed to keep their shoes on.
However, Noem said other steps in the multilayered security screening process, such as identification checks and screening of carry-on bags, will continue and some travelers may still be asked to remove their shoes for additional screening.
What would trigger additional screening with shoes off?
Passengers whose boarding passes are marked with “SSSS” — which stands for “Secondary Security Screening Selection” — means you’ll have to undergo an extra few steps beyond regular security protocols. Those with TSA Precheck, Global Entry or a CLEAR access purchase may also be pulled for additional screening if those letters are on their boarding pass.
Those passengers who trigger the alarm at scanners or magnetometers will be required to remove their shoes for additional screening as well.
Why the change in TSA policy on shoe removal?
TSA officials previously said that the agency regularly modifies its screening procedures based on a real-time threat assessment, technologies available at each checkpoint, and other considerations, USA TODAY reported.
“Everything the TSA does and requires of travelers has always been necessary, but they have advanced over the years,” Noem said. “We have made advancements in how we screen individuals.”
Why did TSA start the shoes-off rule at airport security?
TSA’s “no-shoe” rule started in 2006 after a British man named Richard Reid boarded American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami on Dec. 22, 2001, with explosives hidden in his shoes. The incident occurred just over three months after the 9/11 attacks.
Passengers and crew members saw Reid struggling to light the fuse to his shoes and restrained him. The flight was diverted to Logan International Airport in Boston, where Reid was taken into custody.
Reid was sentenced to life in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2002 to eight terrorism-related charges.
FBI bomb techs determined that the shoes contained about 10 ounces of explosive material and would have blown a hole in the airliner’s fuselage large enough to cause the plane to crash if it had been detonated, according to the FBI.
When will the TSA shoes-off rule end at airports?
Officials at John Glenn Columbus International Airport directed questions to TSA, who did not immediately respond. The Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which operates John Glenn Columbus International, Rickenbacker International Airport and Bolton Field, had no information about the change in shoe policy on its website as of early evening July 8.
Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) in Covington, Kentucky, is among the first expected to do away with the policy, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
Baltimore/Washington International Airport, Fort Lauderdale International Airport, Portland International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport and Piedmont Triad International Airport in North Carolina are dropping the requirement, according to CBS News.
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and New York City’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) have not been asking passengers to remove their shoes, according to ABC News.
CBS News reported that airports are expected to phase the policy change in, with most airports removing rhe requirement by July 13.
Dispatch reporter Shahid Meighan contributed to this report.
This story was updated to add a gallery.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: TSA making big changes at airport security: You can keep your shoes on — unless this happens
Reporting by Mariyam Muhammad, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
