You no longer need to take your shoes off at airport security.
Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Transportation Security Administration, announced in a press conference on Tuesday that the long-standing policy requiring most passengers to remove their shoes at TSA checkpoints is no longer in effect.
“TSA will no longer require travelers to remove their shoes when they go through our security checkpoint,” Noem said at the press conference.
The change had been previously reported by other news organizations but was not initially confirmed by the TSA.
According to Noem, the new policy goes into effect immediately nationwide.
TSA officials previously said that the agency regularly adjusts its screening procedures based on a real-time threat assessment, technologies available at each checkpoint and other considerations. Noem pointed out that some travelers may still be asked to remove their shoes if they are required to undergo additional screening.
“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.”
A traveler puts his shoes back on after passing through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security check at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on February 20, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.
The shoe removal policy was initially put into place in 2006 in response to a December 2001 attempt by an airline passenger to conceal a bomb in his shoe.
Since 2006, most travelers at airport checkpoints in the U.S. have had to remove their shoes as part of the standard security screening, but there were a number of exceptions. One of the major perks of the TSA’s Precheck Trusted Traveler program is the ability to leave your shoes on at security checkpoints.
Noem said she expects many frequent travelers will still find value in the program because they will continue to benefit from the ability to leave compliant liquids and electronics in their bags at TSA checkpoints.
Some airports with the latest technology have also quietly started allowing travelers to keep their shoes on, even in the standard security screening lane. Still, these decisions were made on a case-by-case basis and were not a blanket policy of the TSA.
“We’ve gone back and looked at our security processes, looked at the efficacy of everything we do,” Noem said, and suggested that overall, the shoe removal policy was no longer an especially effective tool for screening passengers. She also said that the agency is confident that its existing technology is ready to handle this change at all airports nationwide.
“We’ve evaluated the equipment that every airport has and are fully confident with the no shoes policy that we still have the security needs in place at every checkpoint,” Noem said.
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: You’ll be able to keep your shoes on at airport security