Airline Passengers Can Keep Their Shoes On At Security: Report
Posted September 7, 2009 11:49 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
There’s some good news for passengers who resent having to remove their shoes at airport-security checkpoints: now you can just say no.
Canada’s airport security agency has issued a bulletin to front-line officers notifying them they cannot require passengers to doff footwear before walking through metal detectors. The bulletin, dated April and obtained under freedom of information, says it was effective immediately though there was no public announcement at the time.
The exceptions are travellers heading to the United States, where rules are tougher. And if a hand-held metal detector signals a problem, then shoes must be removed.
A spokesman for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority says the bulletin is simply a reminder to officers of longstanding policy.
Tougher rules for shoes were begun in late 2002 when a someone tried to blow up an American plane using explosives hidden in his shoes.
