Shoes can now stay on through security at San Diego airport

• And, most people would rather not walk through airports in socks or bare feet.

Driving the news: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the new shoes-on policy for U.S. airports on Tuesday, and it will take effect immediately.

• "We expect this change will drastically decrease passenger wait times at our TSA checkpoints," Noem said in a statement.
• It rolled out at some airports, including San Francisco and Seattle, earlier this week.

Flashback: The Transportation Security Administration started the shoes-off rule at airport security checkpoints in 2006, according to CBS News.

• That came five years after the 9/11 attacks and a 2001 incident when a man tried to set off explosives hidden in his shoes on a flight, but was stopped by passengers and crew.

Zoom out: Passengers willing to pay $78 every five years for TSA PreCheck have been able to keep their shoes on for years, and usually wait less than 10 minutes, according to TSA estimates.

What they're saying: "Our security technology has changed dramatically. It's evolved. TSA has changed," Noem said during a press briefing.

• "We have a multilayered, whole-of-government approach now to security and to the environment that people anticipate and experience when they come into an airport that has been honed and it's been hardened."