For the first time in nearly two decades, U.S. airport travelers might soon be allowed to keep their shoes on during security screenings.
The Transportation Security Administration is looking to abandon the additional security step that has for years bedeviled anyone passing through U.S airports, according to media reports.
If implemented, it would put an end to a security screening mandate put in place almost 20 years ago, several years after "shoe bomber” Richard Reid’s failed attempt to take down a flight from Paris to Miami in late 2001.
The travel newsletter Gate Access was first to report that the security screening change is coming. ABC News reported on an internal memo sent to TSA officers last week that states the new policy allows travelers keep their shoes on during standard screenings at U.S. airports, beginning this Sunday.
The plan is for the change to occur at all U.S. airports soon, the memo said.
