Ditch shoe-removal rule, fliers say in survey

As the busy summer travel season begins, a travel agency company has released a survey of travelers asking what airport security measure they’d most like to eliminate.

The top response: Removal of shoes. Just over 27 percent of respondents said they would most like to eliminate that security measure, according to the survey by Travel Leaders Group.

Other non-favorites:

Nearly 20 percent want to eliminate extensive patdowns.

About 19 percent also said they’d like to get rid of the limit on liquids in carry-on baggage. And 6 percent said they’d like to eliminate the laptop removal rule.

But 20.8 percent of respondents said no security measures should be eliminated.

Travelers who go through expedited screening in TSA PreCheck lines can avoid some of the requirements, keeping shoes on and laptops and permitted liquids in their bags. Applying for TSA PreCheck costs $85 for a five-year membership.

About 39 percent of survey respondents said they are enrolled in PreCheck, while 2.1 percent said they had enrolled in private security line service Clear. Overall, 67.7 percent of respondents said they are satisfied with airport security, an improvement over last year when long lines plagued security checkpoints in Atlanta and elsewhere.