Taking off shoes is new???

I keep hearing on the news that everyone has to take off their shoes to go through airport security ... I thought that's been the rule for years????

Chatter . . . It has been the rule in SOME airports and not others. DFW has made us take off our shoes for a long, long time, but when we fly back from wherever we went, we didn't always have to take off the SAME shoes!! Until now, some of the security measures were at the discretion of the individual airports.

About 4 years ago you only had to take them off if you beeped. Since like 3 years ago you always have to take them off at Miami, Atlanta, Houston, Indianapolis.
Like I said once, rule number 1 for air travel... do not wear socks with holes in them.
:D

Before 2004, the last time I had flown was in 1999. From that point on back, I never was asked to take off my shoes. My understanding was that this rule went into effect after the "shoebomber."

Nowadays, I always wear something that will slip off easily because I assume I will always be asked to remove my shoes. But, while flying between March and June, I noticed that they did not enforce it with every passenger while I was in St. Louis. And while flying through Cincinnati, I wasn't even asked to take them off. I had to ask the guy if I should and he said, "oh yeah."

I guess for a while now, they will become more strict about it again. But, eventually, someone will again become lax with the procedure.

Thanks for explaining! I thought I was living in an alternate reality there for a moment because Ft. Lauderdale and places I've flown to always make me take off my shoes AND my 91 year old mother - and she wears sandals!!!!

I fly about 6 times a year and have for the past five years. I've never NOT been asked to take off my shoes. I fly out of both large and small airports.

I was mystified too when I saw the "new rule." This has always been the order of the day in Tampa, Detroit, Chicago, Austin, Traverse City, Sarasota, Raleigh, Charlotte, Flint, Grand Rapids, Bay City/Saginaw and everywhere else I've been in the last 5 years.

Go figure.

I've never had to take my shoes off.

Thats been a rule here in Boston since 9/11...... I don't know about others

I hate to take my shoes off at the airport!!!

I refused to in Kansas City about 2 years ago...and they made me sit to the side while they swabbed my shoes with some pad and stuck it in the machine.

I guess they didn't find anything....so I was free to go.

I was pretty upset though.

I told one of the guys at the Austin airport ....at like 5 am that I was NOT going to be taking my boots off...and he just let me go through. *grin* I'm not a pretty sight at 5am.

Nadine.

When I fly .. I wear sandels or easy to come off shoes......

I don't mind taking them off.... I feel they have to do what they have to do to keep us safe... :)

I hate to take my shoes off at the airport!!!


Same here. I despise post-9/11 airport security in general. I find having to take off shoes or jackets invasive and insulting. The fact that only passengers can be in the area beyond the checkpoint is bad as well. One of the joys of flying used to be to have your family and friends see you off, or, even better, to have a familiar face be among the first things you see when you step off the jetway into the terminal.

Whether it's at airports or having to go through checkpoints before entering public buildings like courthouses or the state Capitol, security is oppressive and a step toward fascism. If it comes down to either/or, I will always take being more free over being more safe.

You may be right Dave . . . but I'd rather be alive than get blown up in the air! :eek:

Personally I don't see anything wrong with any entity trying to make it safe for everyone to enter their facility; whether it is a plane or a government building.

Do you think people should be able to take anything they want on the plane? Or in a public place where you will be doing business? Or in the courhouse if you were serving on the jury of a controversial case??

Of course weapons and explosives should be banned from public facilities or transportation. The issue I have with 21st-century security is the fact that our society has become so concerned with safety that it is willing to abridge the freedom and mobility of everyone, to distrust everyone, in order to prevent possible isolated incidents.

Speaking for myself, I won't let terrorists win by worrying about what they're up to. If we return to non-intrusive security, terrorist acts would still be very rare, just as are airplane crashes with accidental causes. I'll take the risk. Driving to the airport is far more dangerous than flying would ever be.

Assuming my flight does get blasted out of the air by some al-Qaeda troglodyte, maybe it's just me, but I'd rather have a shorter life in an open and free society than a longer one in a society that is heavily regulated and monitored.

Last time I dared to fly, we all had to take off shoes. Then I was asked to take off my blouse. I told Big Moose I wouldn't be taking off my blouse for her. Then she toddled over to get someone else to continue the harassment. That one let me pass through with blouse still intact. I won't be flying again.....:(

I gotta tell you, these stories posted here that all you have to do is put up a stink and they let you through without checking you scare me.

Some airports now do have the super new "air puffer thingy" you stand over and it just puffed air up and scans your whole body for anything explosive.

My friend who went through one of these had a dress on and she said she felt like Marilyn Monroe. :D

I think I had to take my shoes off in Detroit last time I went thru there....I know in Atlanta in 2004 I had to and also in Grand Rapids. Ihave to remember to wear clogs when I fly this fall- Grand Rapids, Vegas and Tampa...should be an interesting time!

I also don't like that my family can't come to the gate with me...or wait for me there....

It makes it hard for you to tell someone how to find them when you pick them up at the airport...and it makes you feel lost when you're somewhere new....

And I still HATE taking off my shoes. I've gotten smart though lately and just worn my cheap ghetto flip flops...they don't usually make me take those off. Thankfully!!! :D

Nadine.

Yeah, but it's just me Chatter.....:cool:

What are ghetto flipflops, Nadine? I have found the asian stores sell those nice grassmat looking ones.

Ahhh...my ghetto flip flops are just my really cheap (and comfortable) flip flops from Wal-Mart. I got them for like 5 bucks...and I've had them about 2 years...so they're really worn in and comfy. :D

Nadine.

I have learned to buy the men's flip flops, too. They seem to be sturdier and better made. The small ones fit!;)

Yes I found wierd when they told me to remove my shoes, last year going to Las Vegas, also now leaving Puerto Rico to Brazil this year.

I don't mind not being able to go to the gate. I just tell people to go to the baggage claim area for their flight and I will find them. Haven't lost anyone yet! :D