Shoes
It’s not all about Richard Reid when it comes to the screening of shoes. Post all of your thoughts about shoes in this blog post. To learn more about how the shoe fits in with the TSA, check out our web page on "why we screen shoes". Then come back here and let's talk.
01.31.08, 6:00pm
Christopher says:
Great first question on the ability to pick up foot fungus at the checkpoint and a very common one at that.
Believe it or not, TSA actually commissioned a study in 2003 with the Department of Health and Human Services to look at just that issue. I'm paraphrasing here and will have the actual letter posted tomorrow but they found that if the floor isn't moist then the possibility is, "extremely small to remote" to contract athlete's foot. If there are checkpoint floors that are moist, we generally have bigger issues on our hands than foot fungus.
Also interesting from that study, 15 percent of the public may be affected with athlete's foot at any given time. Think about that next time you're trying on clothes at the mall, looking for a new pair of shoes or going off the high dive at the local pool.
02.01.08, 2:00pm
Christopher says:
Great and lively debate here on shoes. As added fodders, here are two pictures of an altered pair of shoes our officers discovered last year in Alaska.
Yes, we find stuff like this all the time and yes our intel folks tell us terrorists are still interested in using shoes as (improvised explosive devices) IEDs or to hide components.
We've also posted an x-ray image so that you can see exactly what we are talking about.
02.05.08; 9:30am
Christopher says:
There have been several posts asking about the pictures above. Just to be perfectly clear, the first two pictures are of a pair of shoes we discovered during screening in Alaska last year. The wire and other small metal item were positioned under the insole just as they are shown.
The third picture is of an x-ray image of a pair of altered shoes we use to train our officers on x-ray displays in airports. As you can see, it doesn’t take an x-ray tech to tell these shoes have been altered.
Our officers literally see 4 Million shoes per day and they’re very, very good at telling the bad from the good.
posted by Neil at
9:01 AM
323 Comments:
My concern is germs!!! Not everybody has clean feet. I do not want a foot fungus because some other passenger didn't take care of their feet. It's bad enough to hear about the misfortunes of people from nail salons; we have to worry about the airports too???
January 31, 2008 3:48 PM
I have no problem with you asking us to remove our shoes if it truly will increase our security while flying - and only you can determine that.
However - if you do ask us to remove shoes - then I ask that you do the following:
1) Be consistent - either always ask us to remove shoes or never - not on a case by case basis.
2) Always have a dry, clean, carpeted area for you to walk on after you take your shoes off - nothing is worse than taking your shoes off and ending up with soggy socks after wards.
3) Provide somewhere to sit down to put your shoes back on
4) Don't have agents yelling at you to "move along" while you are trying to get your shoes back on.
The "D" gates at the Central Terminal at LaGuardia are the worst - no carpets - frequently we floors - noplace to sit down afterwards to put on shoes - agents that yell at you to move along while you are trying to get out.
Thanks.
January 31, 2008 3:52 PM
It's not all about Richard Reid? There's nothing in your "explanatory" article except about how good you are at detecting explosives on shoes and improvised explosive devices. Do you guys even read your own promotional material?
January 31, 2008 3:56 PM
So shoes need to be screened. I can do that. But why are the security screening areas not accommodating, for people without shoes? Most people need to lace up, or tie their shoes when putting them back on. Then why is it that no one thought to supply ample seating for people to put their shoes back on?
January 31, 2008 3:57 PM
One problem I see out there as a TSO is that passengers remove there shoes and place them in the bin or on the belt. Problem then becomes they fill them with phones, change, keys and this now defeats the purpose of even having passengers remove their shoes.
January 31, 2008 4:00 PM
After looking at the picture it seems like it would be a lot easier to hide the explosives on your groin or arm pit. Someone could also hide it on many different parts of their bodies if their clothes are baggy enough. Doesn't it seem like many explosives would be too unstable to walk on or touch statically charged surfaces with. I think the shoes would be the last place someone would hide explosives. Also, two barely filled balloons was all they could get in the large high top mens shoes. Often times people will walk around with a hand gun under their clothes a go completely unnoticed. I personally carry alot of stuff in my pockets when I am at the air port and I can access it much more easily than if it was in my shoes.
January 31, 2008 4:01 PM
Why don't you have the same thing at all airports that you have at the Rochester, MN airport where you can place your feet WITH YOUR SHOES ON! on a scanner? Or at least, if cost is an issue, have that available in the "wand" area where often handicapped are made to remove their shoes and it is difficult to put them back on. A lot of people cannot bend over to do this and the screeners don't take the time to really help you put them on correctly/comfortably.
January 31, 2008 4:05 PM
I remember when John Gilbert Graham blew up an airplane with his mother on it back in the '50s. So what was the fallout from this crime? Airports took out the dumb flight insurance machines that provoked John Gilbert Graham's sick plot.
Now, because foreigners blew up four planes in a cult massacre, we spend countless billions of dollars searching every single person that flies. What is wrong with this insane expense?
January 31, 2008 4:09 PM
I notice, and speaking with security, that Airline personnel DO NOT need to remove their shoes, however, us frequent flyers, need to do so. Why the Double standards.
Is TSA now telling us that Terrorists cannot fly planes..... This is kind of Ironic, since it was exactly this issue that sparked off all the security issues.
January 31, 2008 4:15 PM
Of course it's about Richard Reid. Before he tried to set his shoes on fire, I never had my shoes checked. The first time I flew after that, I had my shoes checked at every single checkpoint. Now I wear sandals when flying specifically to avoid that particular hassle.
If someone were to try smuggling explosives onto a plane, there are many far more effective ways to do it than shoes. But shoes got the publicity, so shoes are what get searched.
January 31, 2008 4:17 PM
The comment about germs reminds me of an actual Odor Eaters ad I once saw in the Cleveland Airport...
January 31, 2008 4:25 PM
Explosives could be formed into a shape that would appear just as ordinary shoes.
X-rays do not detect explosives. If you're serious about detecting a non-amateur shoe bomb, the TSA will need to use actual explosive detection technology.
The TSA's constant failure at "Red Team" tests (see http://www.osc.gov/documents/press/2003/pr03_07.htm ) indicate that x-raying shoes is not the right approach.
The TSA is doing nothing to catch bombs carried on someone's person? What about people who want to smuggle in explosives in their pants?
The shoe policy is reactionary and cowardly and does not make any of us safer. It's a huge misallocation of resources and a waste of time for everyone involved. Real explosive detection technology should be used and people should be allowed to keep their shoes on.
January 31, 2008 4:28 PM
I would like to know more about the TSA's policy on flip flops. In the past, a person wearing flip flops would not have to take them off, but for the past year we have been required to place them in a bucket for x-ray screening and walk barefoot around the security area. At first, I thought it was just a DCA thing, but then I was required to remove my flip-flops even at airports in California and Hawaii, two states in which flip flops play a dominant role in local footwear culture (I dunno, maybe you guys replaced all the west coast screeners with imported east coasters?)
I mean, I can understand why people who wear Crocs should have to take their footwear off because Crocs are hideous and anyone wearing them should be subjected to extra screening regardless, but there is no way that flip flops pose any sort of threat to national security. So please explain why I have to remove my flip flops during the screening process.
January 31, 2008 4:28 PM
It's ridiculous. You have managed to turn flying into a completely degrading experience.
Start profiling and stop asking grandmothers to take off their shoes. It's idiotic.
January 31, 2008 4:29 PM
The pictures to which you refer in your blog don't justify the removal of shoes. They only show that you MIGHT be able to detect something that looks like your particular mock-up of an explosive device. They don't show that it's practical or even feasible for a terrorist to blow up a plane by doing this. Just like the ban on liquids.... It has never been demonstrated that anyone could actually make a working liquid explosive aboard a plane! It's all wasteful, inconvenient, intrusive, unconstitutional "security theater" which doesn't make us a bit safer.
January 31, 2008 4:35 PM
I'd like to chime in with the other complaints of not having adequate seating areas to put shoes and belts, etc back on. I travel through different airports every week, and very few have adequate areas.
January 31, 2008 4:36 PM
The shoe thing is ridiculous and just a little humiliating.
Not to mention the floors in your typical airport are filthy.
Not to mention unsanitary ... the last thing anyone needs is to smell my feet after they've been incubating for 18 hours.
I still remember going through LAX back in 1999 with a six inch combat knife in my hand luggage. Nobody at the gate. I put my own bags through the X-ray machine (there was no attendant). There was nobody at the arch way. No attendant. No wanding. Nothing. Absolutely no indication that anyone cared at all about who got into the airport or on a plane.
In that kind of lax security context, I'm surprised you didn't see tourists on planes with semi-automatic rifles.
The shoe thing is simply a waste of my time, especially since the quality of TSA screening personnel hasn't improved to any noticeable extent since 9/11 or any other security "panic" that's set people off in the last five years.
January 31, 2008 4:43 PM
I LIKE BLUE SHOES. TERRORISTS WEAR RED SHOES.
January 31, 2008 4:45 PM
It's all about cost/benefit isn't it?
How many pairs of shoes have you screened? How many explosives have you found?
What is the average delay caused by screening shoes? Please multiply those 30-60 seconds by the average number of air travelers in a month. Multiply that by the 18 months of screening everyone's shoes. How many days have we lost?
Now divide by the number of explosives found. What is an acceptable loss to the American economy while looking for a minimal threat?
Assuming each person loses 45 seconds per screening and 140 people per flight with 30 flights per day from five airports per state (modest numbers, I think) you can see that in 18 months we've lost something like 7,000,000 hours of Productivity in a year and a half.
January 31, 2008 4:52 PM
Personally I avoid all this nonsense ( and the issues with liquids ) by not visiting the US anymore. I'd rather spend my holiday somewhere where they don't treat you like a criminal when you enter.
Give me a call when you come to your senses and I'll start visiting again.
January 31, 2008 4:53 PM
Why do the screeners and signs say "we recommend you take off your shoes", when in fact you REQUIRE us to take off our shoes? It makes no sense and is silly. Just say we have to take off our shoes, period, please.
January 31, 2008 4:58 PM
I agree with many other posters, if we are required to take off our shoes, then create sanitary conditions, and give us time and courtesy to put our shoes back on.
There MUST be a better way to examine shoes. What is TSA doing to look into alternative methods? Where is this "evolution" that is being talked about?
January 31, 2008 5:06 PM
If Reid had stuffed his explosives into his underwear, the "experience" of flying today would be completely different!
Safety is important, but the TSA should actually take steps to make flying safer, rather than the current policy to make it appear safer!
January 31, 2008 6:04 PM
ONE QUESTION.
How many shoe bombs have you found?
It’s an absurd waste of time, money and resources. The entire security checking system is a degrading load and too many of your TSA workers are just power hungry
Morons.
“DO YOU WANT TO FLY TODAY?”
“Why yes, I would like to. Just without all the …”
January 31, 2008 6:11 PM
I totally fail to see why those pictures justify removing and checking shoes - those balloons would have fit perfectly well in underwear. They really appear to be a knee-jerk reaction to make the non-frequently flying public feel that things are more secure - security theater, rather than real security. All I can say is that I am very glad Richard Reid was the shoe bomber, rather than the underwear bomber.
From a cost/benefit factor a number of the TSA's reactions are letting the terrorists win - terror and fear get promoted, people waste time, the economy gets hurt from people travelling less, or having to allocate more time for every trip, or carrying more stuff (airport clothes and regular clothes), wasting jet fuel.
If the air puffer technology gets reasonable in terms of throughput, that I can believe would help (although I still think a terrorist could jam the entire airport's worth of them by simply spilling some gunpowder (or whatever) outside the terminal for everyone to track in).
If you want me to step on a platform that uses the terrahertz scanners to scan below my knees, fine.
Just don't delay things, don't have huge lines, and don't waste our time. Taking shoes off is a pain, putting them on again is a pain, the in-between part is frequently gross (especially when connecting from international to domestic), and making people bring extra footwear (one set for the airport, and another for real work) is even worse.
January 31, 2008 6:12 PM
Why are there not carpeted areas, and multiple rows of chairs behind the screening areas to allow people to put their shoes back on? Most people , including myself, need to sit down and put our shoes on.
Instead, I usually have to lean up against a wall.
Don't you people (the tsa) THINK ? Do you people (the tsa) put your shoes on at home sitting down?
January 31, 2008 6:13 PM
Germs aren't an issue. We had Health and Human Services study this issue for us back in 2003 and their findings were there are no more germs on airport floors than there are in the gym or any average locker room. HHS specifically said in their August 12, 2003 letter, the chances of disease spreading are "extremely small to remote."
TSA blogger
January 31, 2008 6:14 PM
So just identify to the general public ONE SINGLE INSTANCE where you have correctly identified via a scanner *in advance* of boarding a plane a security threat to the general public smuggled in someone's shoes.
If you have ANY actual instances to share, this might improve your credibility on this issue.
Conveniently, your "why we screen shoes" page neglects to address this issue.
January 31, 2008 6:23 PM
I wear steel toed shoes and they come off every time I fly. Sometimes I grab socks that have holes in the toes. Been given dirty looks for that one. As a 54 yr old man my balance is beginning to fail when I stand on one foot so I can tie my shoes. Might be nice to have a shoe tying area or rail.
January 31, 2008 6:27 PM
If you want to screen shoes, go ahead. Four conditions:
1. You should have paper set down("butcher paper" like in the doctor's office) for people to walk across. I don't want my often-bare feet to touch the ground where thousands have already been earlier in the day.
2. Don't screen flip-flops, sneakers or stiletto heels. Why could I possibly be hiding in my plastic flip flops? If your answer is “anything,” than that means you should ban all carry-on luggage because bringing anything is too dangerous.
3. Be consistent! Cincinnati doesn’t require me to take off my shoes. Most everywhere else does.
4. I am also fine with TSA workers doing additional screening in my bag or running a metal detector over my body if that means I don’t have to take off my shoes; but only to the extent that it is not punishment. Turning on my laptop and typing a test word document is something I consider punishment. So is taking my Wii and all of the wires out of a box.
January 31, 2008 6:33 PM
I travel almost every week for business and I think that if you are wearing flat shoes with THIN soles there is no need to take off your shoes and walk on a dirty floor, use some common sense.
January 31, 2008 6:33 PM
Actually, the article doesn't explain it at all. In addition to the lack of dignity, why do something that does nothing to improve security?
Someone planted a bomb in a laptop. Now all laptops are scanned -- as if TSA employees can discern the thousands of different component patterns in laptops with a glance.
Someone tried to light a shoe bomb on a plane UNSUCCESSFULLY and was STOPPED. Now all shoes are scanned -- as if looking at their shape reveals the presence of explosives anyway.
Someone WROTE AN E-MAIL about hiding a bomb in a water bottle. Now all liquids are BANNED.
This is a very embarrassing combination of draconian knee-jerk reaction and lack of real security. In addition to being consistently one step behind the terrorists that guarantees the next serious attack will both be successful AND get something else banned or independently screened, what happens if someone hides a bomb in his/her rectum??
This isn't sarcasm here. I'm sick of security measures that waste time, strip away our dignity, waste money and -- above all else -- do absolutely nothing to protect us. TSA isn't fooling anyone, so there are no political benefits to reap by scanning shoes.
January 31, 2008 6:39 PM
I respect what you are trying to do, but I as a scientist, I can tell you that you are spreading fungus and bacteria between passengers, regardless of your "study". (Also, can you please post a citation reference to your study?)
You need to be responsible and disinfect the area at regular intervals, otherwise you are violating our personal hygiene rights.
January 31, 2008 6:50 PM
originally posted in the "first version of the blog" but this needs to be in the "shoes section". i'd like to see what some of the front line screener shave to say about the policy regarding those pax who cannot remove their shoes and specifically-to my reasons as noted below
as a passenger (and particularly one who flies over 100,000 miles a year, i have some questions directed to the "shoes off policy". i wear (and have to wear) orthopedic shoes and custom fitted orthotics as a result of ankle surgery and my question is simple....
why do the tsa's own policies differ from airport to airport? there are tsa procedures in place as to how to deal with pax who cannot take off their shoes but repeatedly they are ignored, misconstrued, or made up by the tsa employees on duty with the addition that more than 50% of the screeners i come in contact with do not know the definition of the word "orthotics". i have been threatened with "do i want to fly today" to "do you want me to call a cop"(both at JFK UA) yet to also go to other extreme, the screeners at my home airport (SFO-United terminal) have it down pat.
simply put, you need to have ALL airports follow THE SAME rules (including the ADA and FRPA and HIPPA) and screener s and supes need to know what they can and cannot ask. if you want to see record clearance times (and trust me, i know what i'm talking about as operational efficiency has been my career for 30 years, the whole key to line mgmnt is to have it done the SAME ACROSS THE BOARD with all TSA employees not only having a complete understanding of privacy laws but also a basic grasp of customer service techniques and the english language (case in point: lax t-7 ua terminal footbridge on sunday, january 20, 2007 approx 9pm. i told the screener i was wearing orthopedic shoes and orthotics and i was presented with "what?, your shoes have to come off". this was followed by my repeating that i was wearing orthopedic shoes and orthotics which was met with the response of" "supervisor, he be wearing ortho something or others and don't want to take his shoes off". as you can see, this is not a grammatically correct comment and n.b. i wne thru the very same terminal and checkpoint just over 36 hours before and did not have a problem.
January 31, 2008 6:54 PM
People shouldn't have to submit to any kind of screening before flying, so you can imagine what I think of the shoe rule.
I want to see a return of rights and dignity to the traveling American.
January 31, 2008 7:00 PM
There is no reason in your explanatory article why shoes are special compared to all other articles of clothing. It seems like a feel-good waste of our time because of this.
Then you also need to explain the policy I experienced where I did not have to take off my shoes but if I refused (I did) I was subjected to a more rigorous examination and "wanding"... that still didn't go near my shoes! It was purely punative.
January 31, 2008 7:18 PM
The person in front of me was wearing tennis shoes and passed through. Wearing the same type of shoe I was stopped. When asking for a chair on which to remove them because of a bad back, the agent had me wait a considerable amount of time for a complete check. Experienced a lot of pain and a great deal of time lost. I was over 75 years of age.
January 31, 2008 7:18 PM
Why do I have to remove my thin-soled flip flops? I am on prednisone which decreases my ability to fight infection. My neighbor's mother ended up with a fungal infection that her doctor said was directly related to removing her shoes and walking barefoot through airport security. "Wear a pair of socks." While that sounds good, then you have a contaminated pair of socks. Why doesn't TSA provide some kind of disposable slipper?
January 31, 2008 7:28 PM
Knew this blog was a PR scam. No answers, just government pap.
The shoe issue is a phony, but you won't find an honest discussion here - not with TSA in charge.
January 31, 2008 7:33 PM
I plan to fall and break my hip the next time I try to put my shoes on while standing, and I will sue the TSA! Please provide seating if you want to avoid such lawsuits! My heart goes out to our senior citizens who have arthritic knees or other maladies.
January 31, 2008 7:35 PM
Many of you have commented on the shoe removal policy. Since the liquid limitations went into effect in August of 06, TSA has required all passengers to remove their shoes. This makes it much more consistant for all travelers and gives us an opportunity to inspect every shoe. The threat is still real when it comes to IEDs hidden in shoes. While some may wear flip flops or other shoes that make it nearly impossible to hide an explosive device, it is a straight forward rule that has no room for interpretation- therefore you wont find "inconsistencies" from one airport to the other.
January 31, 2008 8:10 PM
X-Ray Machines CAN detect explosives by looking at the density of the items being examined thus removing shoes are a necessary safety precaution!
January 31, 2008 8:15 PM
Israeli airport security does not require passengers to remove shoes. Do they know something that we don't? Do we know something they don't?
January 31, 2008 9:11 PM
This shoe thing is something that drives me absolutely crazy!!! I have two sons who wear either basketball shoes or boots. So when they go through screening, its bin after bin of shoes and belts and bags and jackets and then they have to redress themselves. What a waste!
But, not as dumb as my friend having to take the shoes off of her toddler. I mean really, people. Have you ever tried to get shoes and a winter coat on a baby? Then take them off and put them back on. The baby isn't a risk! And her shoes are too small to hide a frickin' explosive.
Let's bring some sanity to this picture and stop treating everyone like criminals. Common sense folks!
January 31, 2008 9:14 PM
Though one could argue for screening large shoes, it is useless and a waste of time and resources to requite women with sandals or children to remove their shoes. This sort of blanket dictum illustrates the the shortcomings of this sort of security effort.
Not withstanding large, built-up shoe heels, there would have to be a new type of explosive that could be effective, yet require such a small amount that could be fit inside the heels of most street shoes. Seriously, a person could pack more explosives in their anal cavity than their shoes.
IMHO, this idea is mostly ineffectual and a cause of much waste and delay.
January 31, 2008 10:18 PM
Here's one for you. Recently a TSA agent "scanned" my bare feet as if I was hiding a bomb IN my feet. Come on, enough is enough! There is no consistency at any airport. All the TSA seems to do is further perpetuate some kind of government ordained fear they think we should have. And whats with all the yelling ex military jack offs who think yelling me to move along is going to get me to gather my stuff any quicker! It's all just a bunch of BS. Go back to the way things were before. We were probably safer in the past than we are now with "Big Brother TSA" and Homeland Security. Give me a break with all the nonsense!
January 31, 2008 10:48 PM
I am involved in public health. A few years back I got a nasty plantar wart from walking barefoot in my upscale health club. Very painful to have treated. The idea of getting another from the barfoot thing at the airport--well, it boggles the mind. I cannot believe we have to place our bare feet down where all manner of vermin have been before. Mind you I am a health care professional. I want security, but if the liquids have to be in plastic bags, then bloody well so should our feet be covered.
January 31, 2008 11:17 PM
As a diabetic, the last thing in the world I intend to do is subject myself to ANY increase in risk to damage to my feet. Removal of shoes, especially when you (TSA) are not capable of properly screening them to begin with, is simply not acceptable. Your bland assertion that "Germs aren't an issue. We had Health and Human Services study this issue for us back in 2003 and their findings were there are no more germs on airport floors than there are in the gym or any average locker room. HHS specifically said in their August 12, 2003 letter, the chances of disease spreading are "extremely small to remote."" just doesn't wash. I'm supposed to keep my shoes on IN MY HOME to safeguard my feet - and you expect me to take them off and walk on a filthy floor in an airport?
No thanks. Things like this are the reason I refuse to fly - that, and TSA's well-documented history of sexual and other physical assault, and of abuse of power and imagined authority, and the War On Liquids, and mission creep (since when do ID checks contribute *ANYTHING* to aircraft safety?!?)... the list goes on and on (and on, and on, and on, and on...).
January 31, 2008 11:20 PM
I understand the whole shoe thing - don't like it one bit, but understand. BUT... please, oh please, can some one explain to me why I see pilots and flight attendants just breeze on through the security screening?!?
January 31, 2008 11:30 PM
Your page on "why we screen shoes" boils down to "we screen shoes because we screen shoes." You don't provide any evidence, or even a coherent argument, that this screening increases anoyone's safety. In fact, all the materials used in shoes are also used in clothing; there is nothing special about the structure or composition of shoes, considering the full range of footwear vs. other items of clothing.
This is what is so frustrating about ALL of the supposed "security" procedures we are put through - every single one of them is something that any intelligent person can easily determine is not in fact adequate to prevent what we are told it is supposed to prevent. Therefore, we are being put through these paces for no good reason.
The fact that in addition even these inadequate policies are not consistently or effectively enforced just makes it all the more frustrating. Honestly, I feel more unsafe every time I fly, because the only reason I can come up with for putting together such an elaborate hodgepodge of inadequate procedures is that you have internally acknowledged that it is in fact impossible to provide any real security at all, so you're just doing as much make-travelers-uncomfortable hand-waving as possible in order to distract us from that fact.
January 31, 2008 11:47 PM
You say that "Germs aren't an issue. We had Health and Human Services study this issue for us back in 2003 and their findings were there are no more germs on airport floors than there are in the gym or any average locker room. HHS specifically said in their August 12, 2003 letter, the chances of disease spreading are "extremely small to remote."
Extremely small is not good enough. I do not walk with bare feet in locker-rooms or gyms because of unsanitary conditions. Most places such as military barracks REQUIRE flip flops to limit the spread of foot diseases.
I traveled through the Miami airport in December and was forced to walk barefoot following a man with OPEN SORES ON HIS FEET--that is right I had to step in the pus from another human being. How this is protecting me I do not fathom.
Is there not a point where the government is ashamed to treat its citizens like animals?
February 1, 2008 12:17 AM
Most security checks are not cleaned very well. It's annoying to have to remove my shoes, especially when I don't have to do so in most other countries. A lot of Asian airports are more secure and competently staffed. American airport security could learn a lot from them.
February 1, 2008 12:59 AM
I have a question? Would You fly without any security? Passengers could just walk right from the curbside straight to the plane. Would this be better?
February 1, 2008 1:06 AM
A question that comes up a lot is "How many shoe bombs have been found?" Now if you were a potential terrorist, and you knew the existing security measures, would you really try to use a shoe bomb? As inconvienient as it may seem, checking everyones shoes, seems neccessary as a deterant more than anything.
February 1, 2008 2:03 AM
Two items -
1. Provide a search function on the blog. I want to post about sanitation and CPAP equipment, but I don't know if anyone else has already done that. Why be redundent. If I could search your site for CPAP and see what other posts are there it would save you an I time.
2. I'm a CPAP user. When your agents take my CPAP machine out and run it through the scanner they insist that it be out of its case and in a bin. I go to great lengths to keep the gear SANITARY since it is used to provide air that I breath. Placing it in the bins where SHOES have been is unnacceptable and dangerous to my health. The agents just look at me dumbfounded when I try to explain. Help!!
February 1, 2008 2:07 AM
wait til some idiot hides a bomb in his/her underwear.
February 1, 2008 2:13 AM
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
February 1, 2008 2:16 AM
Full disclosure: I think screening shoes is security theatre and horribly degrading.
As a college student, air travel is an unfortunately frequent, huge inconvenience. As much as I
1) despise being treated as a criminal,
2) wince at having my stuff thrown out when I happen to bring something banned in my carry-on accidentally (when you travel as much as I do, you're bound to slip up on liquids or whatever on occasion), and
3) feel uneasy watching my shoes manhandled by TSA workers out of the bin I put them in onto the moving conveyor belt which runs them straight into other people's luggage after x-raying them, getting laces or straps caught everywhere (Money doesn't grow on trees, people! Don't put my shoes directly onto the conveyor belt!)
I can't help but compare how good I've got it when I imagine how security must affect the elderly and families with small children.
And I don't have it all that good at all! Traveling alone, I have to remove my coat, sweatshirt, shoes (while standing, with outerwear in hand), cellphone from pocket, laptop, and "freedom baggie" of liquids. Put in bins. Walk through the metal detector. Put on and replace all those things I removed as my stuff is carelessly careening down the conveyor belt into other people's things or smashing fingers. Traveling alone is hard.
But traveling with small children is even worse. I frequently see families with two or three young children, strollers, diaper bags, and all sorts of bags to either care for or placate the kids while on-board. They'd be having a hard time even through regular security, but with these rules, all the kids' little shoes have to come off and put back on in addition to other burdens such as not being able to bring Juicy Juice for the kids or having to separate from the children if the metal detector does go off. Heaven forbid if the children start acting like, well, children and don't understand or misbehave or resist.
As far as the elderly go... I don't really see that many of them at airports anymore, at least not without younger, more capable family members near by. I know that my grandparents are very reluctant to fly anywhere since it is humiliating for them to feel like they are holding up lines because they are not able to take off their shoes while standing up. Moreover, my grandfather has a stint, which means he sets off every metal detector and even some retail anti-theft security systems... He carries papers with him to explain this to authority figures, but can he really trust TSA to be caring and considerate? On a consistent basis? Or will he be yelled at, pulled aside, asked whether he wants to fly today or not, or worse?
February 1, 2008 2:32 AM
nico's comment seems to be officially sanctioned, but I'm not sure it's comforting to know that there are "no more germs on airport floors than there are in the gym or any average locker room." These are not places I typically walk around barefooted!
I think what most people here are thinking when they say taking off shoes is dirty is that they'll increase their risk exposure for athlete's foot or other skin infections.
nico: A study on germs does not examine the risk of catching a foot mold that could cause a skin infection. Moreover, using a locker room as an example is not comforting, as it is a prime place in which athlete's foot is caught.
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/athletes-foot-cause
February 1, 2008 2:46 AM
I received a Lung Transplant (Thanks to a donor) a little over a year ago so I try to avoid air travel and crowds because of my health condition. Unfortunately, I must return to the lung transplant facility transplant from my home in Alaska to Seattle Washington every 3 months for follow-up care. Part of the drug regime are immunesuppression medications to prevent rejection which, basically shut down my immune system. I am not alone, with several hundred/thousand other other lung transplant reciepients and 10's of thousands more organ tranplant reciepients across the U.S. I will tell you that my personnal experience concerning TSA's handling of people and their personal belongings is a cesspool. As for your comment about having more important things to worry about, I would tend to disagree. The common cold can kill a person in my condition and fungus is one of the more common complications and hardest to treat in Lung transplant receipents. I believe the average survival rate if I get fungus growing in my lungs is about 50%. So I would appreciate if you would move your thoughts concerning sanitary provisions up your priority list!!! Some of us might truly live longer.
Thanks for you time.
February 1, 2008 2:46 AM
As a paying member of the Clear Registered Traveler Program, I don't understand why the TSA still requires me to take off my shoes. You have already completed a thorough background check on me. You know I am no security threat. You know the biometric ID card ensures that I am not using a fake ID, and that my status is current. So if I am clearly identified as a trusted individual, why don't you trust my shoes?
Furthermore, some of the Clear machines have built-in shoe screeners, but TSA hasn't approved them, so they can't be used. I have to get back into the same slow line as everyone else. Wouldn't everyone move through security so much faster if registered travelers were allowed to move through security without having to take off their shoes?
February 1, 2008 3:33 AM
My issue with the shoe policy is that when my grandparents, ages 86 and 89, fly out to visit people they forced to take off their shoes. They both have to wear special shoes due to problems they have and it is very, very difficult for them to get their shoes on or off. To force any very elderly people to take their shoes off is not making anyone “safer.”
Maybe if this country wasn’t so freakin’ sue happy we could live in a country where common sense was allowed to be used. Let the old people go through regular screening without this extra bullshit.
February 1, 2008 4:21 AM
I'll leave the efficacy of x-raying everyone's shoes in eliminating a threat alone, since that seems to be very well covered already.
What I will protest strongly about is the total lack of the in-place TSA agents concern with following established law.
I am a handicapped individual, and after three years in a wheelchair have managed to reach a point where I can now walk, slowly, with a cane.
The ADA insists that reasonable accommodations be made, even by the government, even by the TSA.
Last time I left Philly, I of course went through the "special needs" short line to get to my gate. Knowing that I would have to remove my shoes, I wore slip-on shoes with no laces or even Velcro to mess with.
At the point I was required to remove my shoes, there was NO place to sit, and the TSA's only response to my question about a place to sit so I could remove my them was a curt grunt that there was no place to sit. Duh.
Same after being checked. While there were a few seats after going through the metal detector, a fair distance away, they were all in use holding luggage, people chatting, or the one gal sitting there talking on a cellphone.
Could I get any assistance from the TSA folks to clear a seat? No.
Could I get any assistance from the TSA folks in getting my laptop, shoes, small messenger bag, and cane out of the way and over to the seating? No.
Did a TSA agent DUMP my bare, unprotected laptop out of their grey plastic tray because I couldn't get to it fast enough? Yes.
Does anyone really wonder why there is such outright hate for the way TSA interacts with the public? They shouldn't.
Without even getting into the legitimacy of any of the security checks, one needs to enforce as strongly as possible treating the public as human beings, and insist that those travelers with physical disabilities receive the accommodation required by long established and well settled law.
I look forward to some sort of response to this from the TSA - to this point all questions and comments about this have been quite simply ignored.
If you have a fast lane for those with special needs, you also need to have someone there with enough authority and intelligence to move a chair when needed, and to ensure that the ADA minimums are at least met.
February 1, 2008 6:33 AM
Why in the world was I asked to remove the booties on my 5 month old daughter's feet when passing through security at ORD this past weekend?
February 1, 2008 7:22 AM
@nico: it is not so important whether there is a big chance of people catching germs from having to take off their shoes. What matters, is people's fear of catching germs. (Ironically, it seems similar to screening for shoe boms. It doesn't matter the chances are extremely small, we (well, you, the TSA) still put something in place to prevent shoe bombs.)
TSA's floor being as clean as a gym or locker room can't sound very comforting to someone who is afraid of germs.
February 1, 2008 7:59 AM
What irks me most about the shoe policy is that it's totally reactive--much like every other inane 'policy' of the TSA. How about some forward, proactive thinking for a change--be ahead of the curve, not desperately trying to catch up after the fact.
February 1, 2008 8:12 AM
My comment is about international travel, specifically Atlanta. I live in Atlanta and fly internationally occasionally. Coming back from my international destination I've already gone through security (including taking my shoes off) to get on the plane, flown all the way in the air to get to Atlanta, then gone through immigration etc. and then when I choose the 'final destination Atlanta' line I am forced to take my shoes off again?????? Can I ask why? I am not getting on another plane, in fact, I just want to get my bags and get home! Unless you are wearing slip ons this just gums up the line and takes extra time. And again, there is limited seating to put your shoes back on after you are forced to take them off. This is the model of inefficiency, can you please explain why our shoes need to be checked after we have already landed and are at our final destination?
February 1, 2008 8:38 AM
I'm not as young as I use to be . So I need a place to sit and remove my shoes and put them back on with out being rushed by TSA agents. And nicer attitudes!!! Maybe find another way of doing this please.
February 1, 2008 8:58 AM
Thanks, Andrea, for clarifying that you are doing it this way to provide a consistent approach.
What most people here are complaining about is that it is consistently ineffective at the desired result (detecting IEDs), not that some places make you take them off and some don't.
An x-ray machine cannot detect an explosive. Find a technology that can and implement it, but in the mean time, stop bothering with the circus.
February 1, 2008 9:00 AM
There ARE inconsistancies from one airport to another, I went to Texas just last week, and while standing in the line to get thru the security, I saw a man, not military, walk thru the metal detector WITHOUT removing his boots. They did not make him take them off. They just let him go thru the detector. I understand the policy, but it should apply to everyone. And there is not enough seating for those of us who have medical problems to put our shoes on and be rushed to do so. They practically throw you thru the lines and expect you to get your stuff and be on your merry way. With the attitudes these people have, they should look in to hiring people who, understand that it may take one person a little longer than someone else. Have they never flown before or what? I am sure they don't get treated the way they treat most passengers.
February 1, 2008 9:09 AM
Please give us MORE TABLES!
Check point delays are caused when we have to wait for people to unpack their stuff and taking off their shoes. We all have to wait until we get to the ONE table before the xray to BEGIN loading bins.
Just set up a much longer line of tables before the check point so everyone can load the bins earlier, and be ready to go by the time they get to the xray.
If nothing else, it will give us something to do while waiting on line!
February 1, 2008 9:14 AM
For all those who question the shoe policy based upon the fact that no shoe bombs have been found, you really don't understand do you? The TSA has been charged with NEVER letting another 9/11 happen again. Now we all know there aren't hundreds of terrorists going through checkpoints everyday. The TSA is looking for that 1 out of a billion person who is coming through with intent to do harm. Talk about a tough job! It seems like most people think TSA should all be psychics and know who the bad guys are ahead of time. It doesn't work like that.
February 1, 2008 9:18 AM
Have you found ANY weapons or explosives in peoples' shoes? How many? What type? Unless your policy is based on results, it is merely inconveniencing millions of passengers (you know, the ones who pay the salaries of all those TSA (thousands standing around) employees.
February 1, 2008 9:51 AM
I just recently took a cruise to the Bahamas and this was the first time I had flown since 1998. I was very intimated by the whole security process not knowing what to expect. The one thing that I would like to see is some kind of seating (benches) before and after the screeners to be able to sit down to take your shoes off and to put them back on. It would make it a lot easier on us old folks.
February 1, 2008 9:53 AM
I do not mind taking my shoes off provided that there is a good rationale for it. As it stands right now, one has not been adequately provided. The word IED is tossed about, and, while certainly a concern, it is unclear whether the security measures are that effective.
Testing and real life experiences have proven that agents commonly miss metal blades and weapons. Metal appears very clearly on X-rays. If this is the case, how is an agent who cannot see the outline of a knife going to notice the subtle density differences of a bombed shoe?
The phrase "security theater" is thrown about, and, in a way, it seems like this is the case right now. The web site link does not provide much beyond a simple "it is necessary". The IED X-ray images go a long way to making seem more plausible, but, how can you assure the public that such a campaign is truly effective. As another anonymous suggested, the balloon bombs in the shoe X-rays could have easily been hidden elsewhere on the body.
In the end, I would like to see hard numbers, and I would like to see testing results that prove agents can spot such a bomb at a real airport, not a realistic simulation. Test things before they become a threat rather than reacting to threats so as to create the perception of security.
February 1, 2008 10:19 AM
The shoe removal at airport has little to do with security and everything to do with increasing "public awareness." That's why you don't have to remove your shoes boarding flights into the U.S. from other countries.
I think the TSA should require us to remove our shoes before getting in a car, in order to prevent car bombs.
February 1, 2008 10:23 AM
It IS about Richard Reid. This shoe inspection did not start until he was arrested. And then the prosecutor did not even charge him on the shoe explosives. Is this really a threat?!
We give away our precisous civil liberties because we trust that TSA is really protecting us. Discredited security measures undermine this faith. TSA has done more than anyone to carry out Bin Laden's agenda -- eroding our free system of government.
February 1, 2008 10:56 AM
How is this policy NOT about Richard Reid? I read the article. It's all about IEDs! Gee, wasn't that EXACTLY what Richard Reid brought aboard? I expected to hear real justification (outside of the Reid angle) on this issue. If you all are going to try to provide better transparency with regard to TSA policies via this blog, you're going to have to try harder than that.
February 1, 2008 11:17 AM
For everyone who complains about the TSA security procedures, I say this:
There should be a dedicated airline where passengers don't have to get screened. You jus