Travelers will no longer face this inconvenience before boarding a plane

At U.S. airports, passengers will no longer have to remove their shoes for security checks for the first time in nearly two decades.

The White House said Tuesday that all travelers will soon be permitted to wear their shoes when going through TSA airport inspections.

According to whistleblowers who spoke to ABC News, TSA offices around the country got an unexpected memo last week alerting workers to the change. According to the memo, the new policy would take effect on July 6.

But according to NBC News, the new shoes-on law won’t be implemented nationwide right away. Before the change is made countrywide, it is being tested at a few airports.

It ends a security screening requirement that was implemented nearly two decades ago, following shoe bomber Richard Reid’s unsuccessful attempt to take down a flight from Paris to Miami in late 2001.

The impending change to security screening was first announced in the travel newsletter Gate Access. According to the memo, all U.S. airports are expected to implement the adjustment in the near future.

According to CBS News, among of the test airports are Piedmont Triad International in North Carolina, Philadelphia, Baltimore/Washington, Fort Lauderdale, and Cincinnati. Additionally, travelers told the newspaper that they kept their shoes on Monday night at Los Angeles International Airport and LaGuardia Airport.

Travelers who enroll in the TSA PreCheck program, which costs about $80 for five years, have been able to avoid the additional security requirement. Through the program, travelers can pass through security checks without taking off their shoes, belts, or lightweight jackets.

At security checks, passengers 12 years of age or younger and those 75 years of age or older are exempt from having to take off their shoes.

Two months after the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush signed legislation creating the TSA in 2001. The agency replaced the commercial security firms that airlines had been using with federal airport screeners.

The TSA has kept up its efforts to improve its security protocols over the years, testing face recognition software and enforcing Real ID regulations.

The TSA at screening checkpoints is one of the main sources of annoyance for travelers. In an April social media post, Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy questioned the public on what would facilitate travel.

Duffy wrote on X the next day, “It’s very clear that TSA is the #1 travel complaint.” The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for that. The next day, Duffy stated in a post on X, “I’ll talk about this with @Sec_Noem.”

According to her department, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will hold a news conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Tuesday night to unveil a new TSA policy that would streamline passenger screening, increase traveler satisfaction, and shorten wait times.

Despite having selected TSA Administrator David Pekoske during his first tenure in the White House, Trump removed him in January, midway through his second five-year term. President Joe Biden reappointed Pekoske.