Will Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Lift Shoe Removal Requirement?

Say goodbye to the dreaded airport shoe shuffle—at least in some places. The TSA is finally letting travelers keep their shoes on at security, but what about here in Minnesota?

The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) is the largest airport in both the North Star State and our neighboring states of Iowa and Wisconsin. So it's no surprise that a LOT of Minnesotans (and Iowans and Wisconsinites and others) head through the TSA checkpoints at MSP each year when traveling across the country and overseas.

And, don't kid yourself, MSP *does* welcome a lot of passengers. In fact, 37,168,257 total passengers went through the gates at MSP in 2024, a nearly 7 percent increase from the 34,770,800 passengers who used MSP in 2023, and the 31,241,822 passengers served in 2022.

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But will passengers *this* year be affected by a new rule the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is implementing? According to CBS News, the TSA is slowly allowing the rule that says travelers have to remove their shoes while going through the security line to expire.

That annoying rule was first enacted nearly 20 years ago, after Richard Reid, (aka the "shoe bomber") attempted to blow up an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami with explosives hidden in his shoe in December 2001, Straight Arrow News reported.

SEE ALSO: The TSA Just Added New Tech To Speed Up Customs Lines in MN

CBS News says that the new policy allowing you to keep your shoes on is being selectively rolled out right now:

The first airports where the no-shoes requirement is expiring include Baltimore/Washington International Airport, Fort Lauderdale International Airport, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Portland International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport and Piedmont Triad International Airport in North Carolina.

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It also appears that the 'shoes on' rule has been allowed to expire at La Guardia Airport in New York City, as well as the Los Angeles International Airport, CBS News says. But what about MSP here in Minnesota?

Even though MSP serves more passengers than several of those airports where the rule has been allowed to expire, so far, there has been no official word from either the TSA or MSP about the rule being allowed to expire here in the Gopher State.

ALSO INTERESTING: The Surprising Fact About MSP Airport You May Not Know

Of course, if you have TSA Pre-Check, you've been able to keep your shoes on while going through security for a while already. Here's hoping the TSA allows that annoying shoes-off rule to expire here in the Bold North soon!

And while you might still have to take your shoes off-- at least for now-- while going through the TSA security lines in Minnesota, there are still some items you are NOT permitted to check in your bags and any airport here in Minnesota or Wisconsin. Keep scrolling to see what they are!