In July of this year, the Department of Homeland Security ended their policy of requiring travelers at the TSA security checkpoint to remove their shoes.
The policy had begun back in 2006, after a British man named Richard Reid boarded an American Airlines flight to Miami in December 2001 with explosives hidden in a shoe. He wasn’t successful in detonating the explosive, and the plane safely landed in Boston. However, when passengers and the flight crew saw what he was doing, they held Reid down to prevent him from igniting the incendiary device in his shoes. Experts later revealed Reid’s shoes contained enough explosives to blow a hole in the fuselage and crash the plane, according to the FBI.
Anyway, from that point onward, we all had to take off our shoes when we went through the TSA security checkpoint.
TSA PreCheck made its debut in 2013, and those who joined the program were vetted and therefore considered “trusted travelers.” With that, they weren’t required to remove their shoes at the checkpoint. But anyone who was on the “regular” queue still had to, until DHS implemented the removal of that requirement this summer.
But with the new rules in July, everyone could now keep their shoes on and so we were all like “YAY!”
Except it turns out there’s a caveat to the whole thing…
The exception to the new rule
The hint at the caveat first came about on the TSA’s Facebook feed back on August 29th:
And it happened again on September 8th:
Did you catch it?
Did you see what they added?
That “…as long as your shoes don’t alarm” and “…unless they alarm” are both new. It wasn’t mentioned in DHS’s press release when they ended the “shoes off” policy:
Passengers can now keep their shoes on at TSA security checkpoints
National Press Release
Tuesday, July 8, 2025WASHINGTON—Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced a new policy today which will allow passengers traveling through domestic airports to keep their shoes on while passing through security screening at TSA checkpoints.
The new policy will increase hospitality for travelers and streamline the TSA security checkpoint process, leading to lower wait times.
“Ending the ‘Shoes-Off’ policy is the latest effort DHS is implementing to modernize and enhance traveler experience across our nation’s airports,” said Secretary Noem. “We expect this change will drastically decrease passenger wait times at our TSA checkpoints, leading to a more pleasant and efficient passenger experience. As always, security remains our top priority. Thanks to our cutting-edge technological advancements and multi-layered security approach, we are confident we can implement this change while maintaining the highest security standards. This initiative is just one of many the Trump administration is pursuing to usher in the President’s vision for a new Golden Age of American travel.”
Other aspects of TSA’s layered security approach will still apply during the TSA checkpoint process. For example, passengers subject must still clear identity verification, Secure Flight vetting, and other processes.
What’s up with that?
The TSA’s August 29 and September 8 posts addressed a question that several travelers had raised about certain shoes setting off the alarms. In fact, just a few days after DHS’s original announcement in July, the question came up in the r/tsa subreddit, with one Redditor explaining that this problem had happened multiple times, most notably with shoes like Birkenstocks, which the poster described as “notorious for this [setting off the alarms].”
And, of course, if your shoes set off the alarm, TSA is going to stop you and make you take them off and you’ll have to go through the scanner again, the old-fashioned way – without your shoes in the bin and not on your feet.
What Could Cause Your Shoes to Set Off the Alarms?
There are actually a few things:
- Built-in metal: Some shoes are made with metal in the heels. Steel-toed shoes or boots can also trigger the alarm.
- Thick soles: TSA was able to change the shoes-off rule because technology had advanced, so shoes could be screened without removal. However, the advanced imaging technology that’s used now may still have difficulty with thick-soled shoes or shoes with a lot of padding. As a result, these types of shoes could cause alarm.
- Smaller airports that still use traditional walk-through metal detectors might also have false alarms, depending on what shoes someone is wearing.
How to Avoid This From Happening
It should be simple enough – don’t wear shoes that have metal in or on them when going through security ;-).
Or if you “must” wear your Birkenstocks or steel-toe Timberlands for whatever reason, just make sure you’ve given yourself adequate time to be stopped, remove your shoes, and go through the scanner again.
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2 comments
I was always thankful Richard Reid didn’t hide the explosives up his a55.
Wearing cowboy boots every day I had to remove my boots, even in pre-check, every time. It really wasn’t a big deal except for the condescending know it all tapping me on the shoulder saying I didn’t have to do that. I always offered to bet $50 but even those who took me up on it never paid me.
Just to throw out yet another exception to the rule, if you opt-out of the body scanner (you know, their Advanced Imaging Technology screening that’s already full of exceptions…), electing to receive a pat-down instead, you are still required to remove your shoes.