Regular flyers: TSA
© APRegular flyers: TSA officials are looking at letting 'trusted travellers' keep on their shoes, leave laptops in bags and avoid body scanners when they fly
It's news that regular travellers fed up with removing their shoes and passing through body scanners when going through airport security have been waiting years to hear.

Officials are looking at letting 'trusted travellers' keep on their shoes, leave laptops in bags and avoid body scanners when they fly from airports in the U.S.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) concept would be one of the biggest airport changes since stricter rules were brought in after 9/11

It plans to take data from airline frequent-flyer programmes and give 'trusted travellers' a special status on their boarding pass bar-codes, reported the Wall Street Journal.

But exceptions would include if someone on the plane is on the government's watch-list of suspect terrorists or if the flight is seen as high-risk.

'We still want to keep some randomness and unpredictability in there so terrorists can't game the system,' TSA administrator John Pistole said.

'Let's get away from one size fits all,' he told the Wall Street Journal. 'We think we can improve the process and focus more on people we know nothing about.'

An initial programme to give separate screening without body scanners or pat-downs will begin this summer and tests at other airports will follow.

Former FBI deputy director and counterterrorism expert Mr Pistole is confident his programme will improve security without unnecessary risk.

He said it will be based on travel history, therefore taking time for new frequent-flyer members to get up to 'trusted traveller' status.

Only 450 U.S. citizens are on the no-fly list and 6,000 are on the watch list.

These were numbers previously kept secret, but Mr Healy said the lists are now operating more efficiently and he wants to dispel myths and build confidence.

Mr Pistole looks at a daily report of flyers on the watch list, and when several passengers from it were on one flight he got air marshals moved onto the aircraft.

The TSA said the number of people who receive secondary searches has remained constant at about three per cent.

'We do want to do something that acknowledges that virtually everyone who travels is not a terrorist,' Mr Pistole told the Wall Street Journal.

The announcement comes after security was stepped up across the U.S. as officials warned of 'enhanced potential' for violence following Osama Bin Laden's death.

It also follows a number of concerns over intrusive pat-down searches, after former Miss USA Susie Castillo, 31, complained she was 'violated' by a female TSA agent.