GBH

Logan Airport passengers celebrate end of ‘shoes off’ rule

GBH | By Jeremy Siegel

Published July 11, 2025 at 10:44 AM EDT

Security lines were empty at Logan Airport Wednesday after TSA dropped its rule requiring passengers to remove their footwear before entering security checkpoints.

Security lines were largely nonexistent at Boston’s Logan Airport on Wednesday after the TSA dropped its longstanding “shoes off” requirement for pre-flight screenings.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced the policy change on Tuesday, saying the measure will help reduce wait times and facilitate a more pleasant experience for passengers. According to the TSA, new screening technology will help maintain security standards even as shoes stay on.

“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,” Noem said. “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.”

For many passengers at Logan Airport Wednesday, the new policy was cause for celebration. Randolph mother Antoniette Okoh, who had just returned from a Fourth of July vacation, said she’s happy with the change, especially since she travels with an infant.

“Normally it’s very hectic, but keeping our shoes on, it makes it a lot easier, a lot faster,” she said.

Randolph resident Antoniette Okoh was pleased about the TSA's change in policy.

Some other passengers hadn’t yet heard about the policy change, including Florida resident Annalise Bankston, who said she was visiting Boston with her mother Chris for vacation. When Bankston was informed of the new rule, she didn’t believe it.

“I did have to take them off!” Annalise initially said of her TSA screening in Jacksonville Wednesday morning. But when her mother jogged her memory, Annalise realized that she had only removed them out of habit.

“I guess I just took them off myself,” she said. Both Annalise and Chris Bankston said they will be happy to stay laced up for their flight home.

Chris (left) and Annalise Bankton didn't realize the TSA had ended its policy requiring passengers to remove their shoes at security.

The policy mandating travelers remove their footwear had been around for more than a decade before this week’s change. The requirement was implemented as a response to the “shoe bomber” incident of December 2001, when Richard Reid attempted to detonate explosives hidden in his shoes during a flight from Paris to Miami.

Passengers and crew members restrained Reid after he attempted to ignite the explosives. The flight was diverted to Logan Airport, where Reid was arrested by Massachusetts State Police.

Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.