scottishpoet

or maybe because track and trace deems at risk being in close contact for a minimum of 15 minutes, and a scan of the shoes is unlikely to last that long?

LCY8737

Which would explain why the Pucci's shoes have them, and the husband's do not. Though I don't suppose she would condone flip flops.

rockflyertalk

Should we remove our socks also? What’s the FT etiquette here? Just so I don’t get mentioned on a FT thread in future

Buster CT1K

Just absolute madness. Walking around in socks is dirty and having to touch one's shoes which have been in goodness knows what puddles and the like.... ugh.

And do the shoes go into bins with laptops, toiletries, and everything else? Ugh, super dirty.

Hopefully this nonsense goes away soon. This is an unhygienic and dirty practice.

Scots_Al

I think it’s pretty inconvenient and so would rather keep my shoes on... but really, I think a sense of perspective is needed here.

Apologies if your post is sarcasm, or if I’ve just been whooshed (the reference in particular to having to touch your own shoes makes me think it might be!).

cattp

This is a topic that annoys me!

I'm usually quite a calm traveller but I really had to hold my tongue last October when flying through T5 for the first time since the pandemic had started...

There seemed to be a lack of security staff and people were piling up ahead of the metal detector as they do when no one is controlling it (so putting their stuff through then joining the queue)

At the time I went through, no one was in the place of the person who usually asks you "no belt or liquids, right?" - so I assumed all was okay.

Waited for a long time to go through then went through the detector, nothing went off and was cleared and some supervisor ran over to me and demanded I go back through the detector, past a crowd of people to find a tray and put my shoes through again on their own and come back....

Told it's my fault I didn't know that despite proclaiming they need to tell me this!

There was really no need for this. Or even this rule in general, I think it increases transmission personally. But in this specific case I get annoyed at rules for the sake of rules which cause more harm than common sense.

(tl;dr - I wish LHR would use common sense)

Palmer

I didn’t think they patted you down. Don’t they ask you to step into the back scatter thing? Shoes would still come off but there’s no real contact between you and the staff.

Palmer

EMIC

I do think there is a serious side - regardless of the inconvenience it may bring to already nervous travellers.

Put yourself in the shoes........... of the security staff.

Employers have a responsibility of duty of care, and they must take all reasonable precautions to protect their staff. Add in the fact that the unions will also have had an input, and bingo, there's the answer.

I do think though that on this occasion, some thoughts must be directed to the security staff and their well-being.

dougzz

You know things have got really bad when Manchester's security is compared favourably to Lo....... well anywhere really.

Confus

The US has had a ‘no shoes’ rule for years and no one complains, yet as soon as Heathrow does the same it’s as if the sky has fallen in. (Yes I know there’s an exemption for TSA-pre people, but I can’t believe every poster on here has that.)

At the end of the day, this is a short-term initiative to help security staff who have no choice but to deal closely with members of the public every day. A bit of compassion and support in their direction wouldn’t go amiss.

Buster CT1K

I have TSA precheck and use it religiously. In the United States, Precheck persons just go through the metal detector. No backscatter nonsense, and as long as you have no metal, no alarms either. This would work better in Britain too and would be better for the security staff. Frequent fliers generally have precheck. It's really not hard to implement.

Remind me not to travel to London until this nonsense is ended.

KARFA

I guess if you didn't have TSA pre (which the majority of visitors don't), you could say the same about all of the US?

mikeyfly

Just through security now at T5. Yes shoes off and in containers with other belongings. Gross

BOH

So, shoes are taken off and put in a tray to go through the scanner. After the scanner, the same tray is then returned back to be reused instantly by the next passengers with no sanitisation?

This is where it becomes really gross. A pax may have just come out of the loos Landside and as we all know, the floors of toilets (particularly mens urinals) are covered in....well everyone knows! The shoes come off, go in a tray, tray is returned without being cleaned and quickly reused and the next pax puts into this same tray some items such as a coat. mobile phone, toiletries bag, laptop, all items they will then be very shortly handling again the other side of the scanner.

If this is the case, it beggars belief really.

mikeyfly

I anti bac wiped my phone and iPad and surface pro after. Presumably yes, they’ll be face down where previous user’s shoes were