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New rule:Airline passengers can keep their shoes on at security

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Canada
Timeline
Posted

I hate removing my shoes at athe airport.....

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090907/national/airport_security_shoes

OTTAWA - Good news for harried travellers 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 instructing them they cannot require domestic or international passengers to doff footwear before walking through metal detectors.

"Never suggest, ask or demand that passengers remove footwear prior to entering the WTMD (walk-through metal detector)," says the one-page directive, issued in April.

"This bulletin is effective immediately."

In a major exception, however, officers can still order passengers heading for the United States to remove their shoes, consistent with higher air-security standards set by Washington.

As well, if a hand-held metal detector signals an alarm for shoes after the walk-through, a passenger can be required to remove footwear for examination.

And "if a passenger offers to remove footwear, allow them to do so," adds the directive.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, or CATSA, says the new bulletin will be written into the next edition of its operating manual.

The document was obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

Typically, shoes that passengers have been required to remove are sent through hand-baggage X-ray machines for closer inspection.

Footwear came under greater scrutiny by airport security officers around the world after British citizen Richard Reid was arrested in late 2001 for a failed attempt to bomb an American Airlines flight to Miami by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes.

A flight attendant managed to thwart Reid as he tried to hold a match to a fuse sticking out of the heel of one shoe.

The April shoe directive for Canadian screeners appears at odds with a "notice to passengers," currently posted on the CATSA website, that says "all passengers boarding any flights may also be requested to remove footwear for additional screening."

A spokesman for the authority said the spring bulletin is nothing new.

"It's a reminder to screening officers about the existing policy," Mathieu Larocque said in an interview.

"The purpose of the bulletin was simply to reinforce an existing policy. Nothing has changed. ... We're striving for consistency."

Larocque, who said the bulletin was not prompted by passenger complaints, declined to provide the relevant amendments of the screening manual, saying it is a secret document.

And he did not clarify why the bulletin indicated the shoe directive was "effective immediately" if it had already been CATSA policy.

The agency does not keep detailed enough records of complaints to indicate whether show-removal is an issue for travellers, Larocque said.

Tougher rules for shoe-screening that followed the Reid arrest have prompted a raft of passenger complaints around the world. Numerous blogs and travel websites allege that foot diseases are being spread and that security checkpoints are needlessly clogged by people struggling with shoelaces.

Several footwear manufacturers have also promoted "airport friendly" shoes containing little or no metal that might otherwise trigger alarms on metal detectors.

CATSA is a federal agency created in 2002 in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States. On Jan. 1, 2003, the organization took over sole responsibility for air-passenger screening, which had previously been handled by the airlines.

The agency contracts out airport screening to private companies, while ensuring security and service standards are consistent across Canada.

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Canada
Timeline
Posted

OMG yeah, that makes my day! Especially for a germaphobe like myself. It just sucks since I mostly fly to the US now, and it only applies for domestic Canadian flights

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Canada
Timeline
Posted

I was really excited until I read it! I never fly into Canada, I always use Buffalo, so this won't effect me in the slightest. I hate removing my shoes too! Argh, its so gross. The worst is when you completely forget and wear flats so you aren't wearing socks and you need to walk along the cold dirty floor barefoot, all the while knowing you're not the first one to do it today and the person before you may have had some kind of nasty fungus :wacko:

Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Canada
Timeline
Posted
I was really excited until I read it! I never fly into Canada, I always use Buffalo, so this won't effect me in the slightest. I hate removing my shoes too! Argh, its so gross. The worst is when you completely forget and wear flats so you aren't wearing socks and you need to walk along the cold dirty floor barefoot, all the while knowing you're not the first one to do it today and the person before you may have had some kind of nasty fungus :wacko:

OMG yes that is the worst.... I've almost had panic attacks for real going through barefoot. I always, always have socks in my purse now while travelling by air

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Filed: Other Country: Andorra
Timeline
Posted
Meh, I always just wear flip flops. No hastle, no bother for me.

They make you take your flip flops off in all the airports I travel through.

I know, It is however far more convenient than havint to take off other forms of footwear :P I am not a germaphobe, so It's not that bad to take 6-7 steps barefooted :lol:

Indy.gif
Filed: Timeline
Posted
Meh, I always just wear flip flops. No hastle, no bother for me.

They make you take your flip flops off in all the airports I travel through.

I know, It is however far more convenient than havint to take off other forms of footwear :P I am not a germaphobe, so It's not that bad to take 6-7 steps barefooted :lol:

Ahhhh. I gotcha. :thumbs: I do wish they'd let us wear flip flops through, though. lol

iagree.gif
Filed: Citizen (pnd) Country: Canada
Timeline
Posted

I would rather not have to remove them just because getting them back on and lacing them up is kind of a pain, especially in crowed airports where there is no real easy place to stand and I feel rushed by doing it. I'd be happy not to have to do it...

I'm just a wanderer in the desert winds...

Timeline

1997

Oct - Job offer in US

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Nov - Moved to US

1998-2001

Recieved 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th TN

2002

May - Met future wife at arts fest

Nov - Recieved 6th TN

2003

Nov - Recieved 7th TN

Jul - Our Wedding

Aug - Filed for AOS

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Sep - Recieved Advanced Parole

2004

Jan - Interview, accepted for Green Card

Feb - Green Card Arrived in mail

2005

Oct - I-751 sent off

2006

Jan - 10 year Green Card accepted

Mar - 10 year Green Card arrived

Oct - Filed N-400 for Naturalization

Nov - Biometrics done

Nov - Just recieved Naturalization Interview date for Jan.

2007

Jan - Naturalization Interview Completed

Feb - Oath Letter recieved

Feb - Oath Ceremony

Feb 21 - Finally a US CITIZEN (yay)

THE END

 
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