Passengers can now keep their shoes on when going through a standard TSA screening at Philadelphia International Airport, writes Emma Dooling for the Philadelphia Business Journal.
The new policy reverses a 20-year Transportation Security Administration procedure that required passengers to remove their shoes to check for potential explosives.
Passengers in PHL’s expedited TSA PreCheck program were already permitted to keep their shoes on. The new policy will now also apply to passengers going through the standard security line, according to PHL spokesperson Heather Redfern.
The reversal at PHL came after reports surfaced that the TSA, run by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was allowing passengers to keep their shoes on during screenings at other major airports.
The policy change has not been confirmed by the TSA, but a post on X Tuesday morning from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt seemed to verify the change.
The shoe policy will be rolled out nationally in phases, according to CBS News, with PHL among the first airports to abandon the procedure.
The shoe removal requirement was mandated in 2006 after a British man in 2001 tried to bring explosives aboard an American Airlines flight by hiding them in his shoes.
Find out more about the shoe removal policy shift in the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Editor’s Note: This post was initially published on DELCO Today in July 2025.
