Retired Delta Air Lines pilot James G. George of San Clemente, Calif., wrote that even as part of an airline crew, he had to remove his shoes and was sometimes told that if he did not, he would have to go through secondary screening.
"The shoe policy is among the most egregious of the inconsistencies of the airport security line and deviates wildly, almost randomly, from airport to airport," George added.
| _ Attention, Business Travelers _ E-mail Keith L. Alexander about your experiences, good and bad, at alexanderk@washpost.com or write to him at The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071. Please include your name, address, and day and evening telephone numbers.
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Fleming said requiring all passengers to remove their shoes before passing through security checkpoints would create a bottleneck of passengers. Imagine crowds of airline passengers hopping around as if in a game of hopscotch as they try to unlace or unbuckle their shoes. Also, the TSA would have to provide chairs so that passengers could safely remove their shoes.
So Fleming said TSA officers have been trained to identify which types of shoes are more likely to set off alarms. Often, when an agent tells a traveler to remove their shoes, he said, it's likely that the shoe will either set off alarms or is on a TSA list of shoes that fit a certain profile.
"It's a tightrope for the screeners to walk," Fleming said. "We educate our screeners of the profile of what we're looking for. There are some shoes that are borderline where a screener at one airport may say 'better safe than sorry' and suggest they be removed, where at another airport, the screener may not." Also, the TSA official said, some airports may be under heightened security at various times.
As for passengers like Ferragut, who thinks he was punished in Des Moines for declining to remove his shoes, Fleming said a traveler who declines to go shoeless may be subjected to a more thorough screening for a "secondary look." Still, he said, it's a request, not a mandate.
Fleming said the TSA has struggled with establishing a strict mandate for its agents because each airport's requirements vary depending on threat levels.
"We hear your complaints, and we take them seriously," Fleming said, "and we look at how we can improve things."
Those who want to send comments to the TSA can e-mail the agency at TSA-contactcenter@dhs.govor write to the TSA Contact Center, 601 S. 12th St., Arlington, Va. 22202-4220.
Question of the Week: Excluding airline bankruptcies, what do you think was the biggest story or event to happen to the travel industry in 2004? Send your comments, along with your name and a daytime telephone number, to alexanderk@washpost.com.
