"Toeing the Line At the Airport Shoe Check"

Tuesday, December 7, 2004

Toeing the Line At the Airport Shoe Check
By Keith L. Alexander
The Washington (DC) Post


"Travelers are not required to remove their shoes at security checkpoints." 

So said Yolanda Clark, an official of the Transportation Security
Administration, describing the agency's policy. In case BizClass didn't
quite catch it the first time, she repeated herself: "Travelers are not
required to remove their shoes at security checkpoints." By the end of our
conversation, she had uttered those exact words a few more times for good
measure. 

If that weren't enough, she noted the policy stated on the TSA Web site,
www.tsa.gov: "You are NOT REQUIRED to remove your shoes before you enter the
walk-through metal detector." 

So why, many frequent fliers wonder, are so many travelers unlacing at the
checkpoints? 

Washington-based computer consultant Tonya Fuller wears the same pair of
black casual flats on every business trip because they don't set off the
metal detector. But she still is ordered at certain airports to remove them.
"[Chicago] O'Hare and Atlanta seem to be the toughest," Fuller said. 

Frequent fliers insist the shoe policy varies by airport, but the TSA's
Clark stresses another point of the policy: All airports follow the same
guidelines. "The notion that this system is random is incorrect. It's a
standard procedure we implement across all airports," she said. 

But the TSA makes plain that it does reserve the right to inspect
passengers' shoes. Setting off the metal detector is a fairly certain way of
getting stripped of your shoes. Even travelers who pass through the detector
without a peep sometimes find themselves sidelined for a shoe inspection.
That's because -- like passengers who buy one-way tickets or pay in cash --
some shoes fit a certain profile. Suspect footwear includes boots, platform
shoes and those with thick soles or heels, according to the TSA Web site.
Thin-soled beach flip-flops and sandals are among the exempt. 

The TSA received 104 complaints and comments about its shoe policy in
September and 280 in October. The agency could not say what percentage of
the total comments were complaints. Clark did say that about 1.8 million
passengers go through security checkpoints each day. 

The aggressive shoe policy was instituted after British drifter and Muslim
fundamentalist Richard Reid concealed explosives in his shoes on an American
Airlines flight from Paris to Miami just months after the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks. 

James Plummer, a policy analyst at Consumer Alert, recently told Post
airline security reporter Sara Kehaulani Goo that the rules governing when
you must step out of your shoes are inconsistent and devoid of logic. "This
one-size-fits-all screening seems to get more and more draconian, and
there's no flexibility for travelers," Plummer said. 

The TSA's Clark points out that asking travelers to remove their shoes would
hinder customer service. "We try to maintain a balance of customer service
and security," she said. 

The TSA is currently reviewing its policy on pat-downs at the checkpoint,
but Clark said the shoe policy works fine and there are no immediate plans
to make any changes. 

TSA policy requires passengers to remove their coats and sports jackets at
the checkpoints. But shoes? To avoid any confusion, Clark reiterated:
"Travelers are not required to remove their shoes at security checkpoints."


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