TSA chief: Travelers must continue removing shoes before US flights

By Keith Laing - 07/30/12 02:40 PM ET

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will continue requiring passengers to remove their shoes and contain their liquids in less than 3.4 ounce bottles, the agency's administrator said over the weekend.

During an appearance at the Aspen Institute's Security Forum, TSA Administrator John Pistole said that the security techniques that have drawn the ire of the TSA's most strident critics had been effective in combating terrorism.

“Clearly we've had success in not having a repeat of 9/11,” the Aspen Times reported Pistole told the Colorado audience on Saturday.

"We can't go back to the pre-9/11 days," he added.

TSA began requiring passengers to remove their shoes at airport security checkpoints after a London resident attempted to bomb a flight from Paris to Miami in December 2001 with a device that was hidden in his shoes.

The agency announced last year that it would allow children under 12 years old and seniors over the age of 75 to keep their shoes on in most instances after coming under fire for reports of patting down children as young as 8 months old.

Pistole said in Aspen that the TSA has made improvements to its security process in the 10 years since it was founded.

“We have progressed with the advent of technology,” he said, touting the agency's "PreCheck" known-passenger program.

Some Republican members of Congress have pressed TSA to cut its payroll, but Pistole said there were “no discussions about reducing the workforce."

The House Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on Wednesday to examine "misconduct" among TSA screeners.