Missoula Airport And The New TSA Security Procedure

Nobody truly loves air travel.

There's excitement when you arrive at the airport ahead of an awesome vacation, sure, but it wears off when you have to sit in a crammed plane for 4 hours.

At best, you tolerate air travel, right?

And then there's the whole side of air travel known as security. It can be a real pain when you're delayed in a security line.

Fortunately, here in Missoula, we don't encounter long, stress-inducing security lines. Now, the process is about to be expedited even further... we think.

Credit: Nicole Millsap (Townsquare Media)

Keep your shoes on... or take them off?

The Transportation Security Administration announced via press release that it would be dropping its "Shoes Off" travel policy.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced a new policy today which will allow passengers traveling through domestic airports to keep their shoes on while passing through security screening at TSA checkpoints. - TSA press release

The goal is to streamline security processes, primarily at larger, busier airports.

But there are some question marks with the policy change.

Noem and the TSA do not specify a date in the press release as to when specifically the Shoes Off policy would be dropped. It's assumed that the rule went into effect immediately, but confusion is arising.

National Public Radio published an article detailing the confusion amongst travelers, citing some travelers saying they didn't have to take their shoes off, and others having to keep them on.