Reid, a member of Al-Qaeda, was overpowered by other passengers as he tried to light a fuse on his shoes on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami in December 2001.
Reid pleaded guilty to terrorism and other charges and is serving a life sentence at a maximum security prison in Colorado.
TSA said in a statement on the shoe policy change that other security measures will remain in place.
“Other aspects of TSA’s layered security approach will still apply during the TSA checkpoint process. For example, passengers subject must still clear identity verification, Secure Flight vetting, and other processes,” it said.
Past attacks, both successful and thwarted, have led to a raft of new airport security measures in recent decades, especially following the Sep 11, 2001, attacks, in which hijackers flew passenger jets into the Twin Towers in New York as well as the Pentagon.
In 2006, British authorities announced they had foiled a terror plot that aimed to blow up several planes in mid-air simultaneously with liquid explosives. Since then, tough restrictions have applied to liquids and gels, such as toothpaste.
And electronics have also come in for additional screening in a bid to head off attacks, with passengers required to remove laptops from bags, for instance.
