Q: Flying home from Boston this summer, we were told if you were born before a certain year, you didn’t have to take your shoes off. Does that apply to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and if so, what is the year?
— Mary Lou Brooks, Dunwoody
A: People who are 75 years old and older don't have to remove their shoes and can keep light jackets on while going through security checkpoints, the Transportation Security Administration decided earlier this year. The changes also reduced — but didn't eliminate — the need for a physical pat-down by security for travelers in this age group, according to www.TSA.gov. If a person who is 75 or older triggers an alarm, they "will be advised to take their shoes off during the next security screening pass. All alarms must be resolved." Last year, the TSA decided that children under the age of 12 didn't have to remove their shoes as part of "overarching risk-based security methodology." "Transportation Security Officers make a visual assessment to determine passengers who are 75 or older and inform them of changes to the screening procedures," according to the website. These changes apply to all airports, Atlanta TSA spokesman Jon Allen told Q&A on the News in an email. The TSA said the new screening procedures will allow it to focus its "resources on passengers who may be more likely to pose a risk."
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