Airport security in the United States is gearing up for more change, following the recent announcement that passengers can keep their shoes on when going through checkpoints. Another of the most irritating parts of flying, not being able to take liquids over 100 ml (3.4 ounces) onto a plane, is under review by US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“The liquids, I’m questioning. So that may be the next big announcement is what size your liquids need to be,” Noem said at a conference organised by The Hill. “We have put in place in TSA a multilayered screening process that allows us to change some of how we do security and screening so it’s still as safe,” she explained.
Like the rule about removing shoes at screening points, which was applied after the so-called “shoe-bomber” Richard Reid’s tried to set off explosives in his shoes on a transatlantic flight, the cap on liquids has been in place since 2006 due to a security incident involving a plot to smuggle liquid explosives onto aircraft.
WATCH: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem teased that changes could be coming on the size of liquid allowed for passengers boarding flights in the United States. https://t.co/Rb10xeU7jB pic.twitter.com/pXVCWSe5Vj
— The Hill (@thehill) July 16, 2025
The restrictions have not only caused mass inconveniencearound the world, with passengers obliged to gulp down drinks before boarding and transfer shower gels and shampoos into smaller bottles and place them inside transparent plastic bags for inspection, but also an environmental nightmare, due to the proliferation of plastic travel bottles and bags and the ensuing waste.
For a long time the rules seemed to be applied inconsistently in different international airports, meaning many passengers will have experienced the annoyance of having items, such as expensive perfumes, confiscated, when they previously had been allowed to travel with them. Exactly what constitutes a liquid (toothpaste? Lipsticks or mascara?) and what constitutes a medical prescription (contact lens fluid?) has also prompted many a dispute with TSA agents.
But travel in the US is gradually getting more and more seamless, with facial recognition and digital documentation for domestic journeys allowing smoother passage through airports. The recent development on shoe removal, and now, Noem’s targeting of limitations of liquids, are part of a vision the current US administration has for making passengers’ lives easier (and freeing them up from security measures to give them more time to spend on retail when in the airport). Noem told The Hill’s conference:
“Hopefully, the future of an airport, where I’m looking to go, is that you walk in the door with your carry-on suitcase, you walk through a scanner and go right to your plane. It takes you one minute.”
