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There are some airports in Europe like Amsterdam's Schiphol where you don't need to remove your shoes to clear security. If there is a bomb in the shoes of a passenger coming in a flight from Europe to America, then is obvious to say that all efforts made in America will be useless.

It would be like going to a concert venue, and having a metal detector on the doors on the east side while not using a metal detector on the doors on the west side. It is obvious that the person that wants to do harm will pick the west side.

It would be like inviting to a gathering at your house your next door neighbors and some other friends, while only requiring remove the shoes to your neighbors. The floor is going to get dirty obviously, the rule would be useless.

Can some one explain please?

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    I've had my shoes taken off in Europe as well...
    – Johnnyjanko
    Commented Apr 24 at 11:56
  • Possible duplicate of: travel.stackexchange.com/questions/181945/…
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Commented Apr 24 at 13:55
  • Actually my experience at Schiphol is that the personnel will eyeball your shoes and decide whether they want to inspect them. I have had to remove shoes at Schiphol (especially winter boots), which I remember because that was the only place in Europe where this happened to me and the main thing I had to do since you can now leave liquids and electronics in the bags.
    – Relaxed
    Commented May 24 at 8:02

2 Answers 2

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Most of what happens at the security checkpoint is what security experts call security theater. It does not increase security in any way, shape, or form. Its purpose is not to increase security but to make the public feel like the government is doing something to increase security.

The TSA has been described by security experts as a theater troupe and airport security as performance art with audience participation.

So, the answer is that Richard Reid is a US citizen who tried to bomb a US flight taking off from a US airport three months after the worst terror attack on the US, which also involved US flights taking off from US airports.

As a result, the US is scared of shoes, and therefore, the TSA performs a theater piece that makes the US believe in the safety of shoes again. Since Europeans aren't scared of shoes, they don't need this particular theater piece performed.

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  • Richard Reid tried to bomb a flight from Paris to Miami, not a flight taking off from a US airport. Also the US routinely require other countries and/or airlines to perform additional checks for flights to the US (measures vary).
    – jcaron
    Commented Apr 24 at 8:03
  • Richard Reid also was acting suspiciously enough the day prior attempting to take the same flight and ended up being referred to the Surete. Except they interrogated him and managed to delay his itinerary but did not prevent his reticketing onto the same flight the next day. Of course, this predates the whole shoe scan program which is not meant to detect explosives but rather, modifications in the shoe, and the US generally can request, but not literally require as a "perform or else".
    – Jim Zhou
    Commented Apr 24 at 11:06
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    @ Jorg W Mittag, yeah I think that's the best way to see this whole thing, is just a theater.
    – Gabe
    Commented Apr 24 at 12:48
  • Thank you so much for writing this answer! The entire existence of the TSA is nothing but a government jobs program. Especially since what's actually required at any given airport is somewhat random and varies from airport to airport.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Apr 24 at 17:45
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America (or any nation) is simply trying to ensure the safety of flights originating from their nation, which is the only situation they have effective control over.

Countries are free to determine their own security policies and apply policies to flights originating from their nation. The American shoe removal policy (to put them through the X-Ray machine and see if anything is in them) was put in place as a response to the failed shoe bombing in 2001. Other countries may simply feel that going through the metal detector is enough although the obvious counter point is that you could simply have non ferrous but explosive fluid in a shoe. Again nations may feel as though this is either not a risk, or simply one they are willing to accept when dispatching a flight from their sovereign space.

Countries may chose, for the reasons of international cooperation to accept flights from other nations while knowingly accepting the risks. In general, when it comes to these matters the fingers are typically pointed at the nation that allowed the passenger to board the flight in the first place.

It should be noted that when it comes to entering America CBP does reserve the right to search you prior to entering the country.

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    The US do require additional security measures at departure airports for flights to the US, they could probably require shoes to be screened if they wanted to.
    – jcaron
    Commented Apr 24 at 8:05
  • It is not all shoes that do not (no longer) have to be taken off in Amsterdam, some still have to go through the screener machines. But in all the years of screening all shoes they have learned which are impossible to put things in the soles.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Apr 24 at 10:27

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