Originally Posted by eyecue
Its a judgement call. The thickness is based on the view from the screener. I can tell you that shoes look thicker than they are. Expecially the tennis shoe. Soles wrap around the heel and the arch area. We cant put a ruler out there as this would just add to the mess. There are some screeners that prefer you take off all shoes just to reduce the arguments about the thickness. All shoes must be screened! This means that we look at them. If they meet the criteria, we ask that you remove them for X-ray exam. This is by far the quickest way for us to evaluate them. If you dont want to take them off, we still have to screen them. You get sent down for your shoes to be checked and end up with the full secondary screening. IF they dont meet the criteria for thickness, we try to figure if they have metal shanks in them and advise you of that. however, TSA looking at them fulfills the screening requirement IF THEY ARENT OVER THE THICKNESS.
1. If "all shoes must be screened" then why do airport employees get to walk through witht them on? You do not know if they are boarding an aircraft or not, do you?
2. If speed and efficiency is so paramount at the TSA, then why does someone who does not want to remove their shoes get the complete business, not just their shoes looked at?
3. "Well, they're doing it wrong." How many times do you say that to people each day. Yes, I am one of those people who say that every time I wear my Nikes when I fly (almost every time). When DEN is one out of ten airports that I have gone through that requires (let's not kid ourselves) shoe removal, at which point do you actually think that you guys are the ones wasting everyone's (including yours) time?