More than two decades after the infamous shoe bomber incident, the Transportation Security Administration plans to phase out the rule to take off shoes at passenger screening.
Only ‘trusted travelers’ able to use the TSA PreCheck line are exempt.
The TSA is now planning to allow passengers to keep shoes on at the general security screening lines, reported multiple media outlets.
The news comes via a memo sent to TSA officers last week notifying them of the new policy.
It will start at multiple airports including Baltimore/Washington International Airport, Fort Lauderdale Portland and Philadelphia International Airport.
The aim is to implement it at all major airports over time.
The goal is to roll the new policy out to all U.S. airports shortly, according to the memo. Previously, only passengers in the TSA PreCheck line were able to keep their shoes on in most cases.
When passengers trigger the magnetometer alarm, they are required to take shoes off for a secondary screening.
The policy had been in place since 2006 several years after Richard Reid’s attempt to blow up a plane was foiled.
He had explosives in his shoes.
