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Southwest Airlines announced Tuesday that starting April 20 passengers will only be able to carry one charger on their planes, and they won\u2019t be allowed to put it in the overhead bin or in their checked luggage. The airline already requires passengers to keep their chargers in the open while they are using them, so flight attendants can act quickly if they start to overheat.<\/p>\n
\nThe new Southwest rule goes even further than the limit of two chargers per passenger that the International Civil Aviation Organization recommended last month. But the airline says it isn\u2019t going to aggressively enforce the policy by searching bags and confiscating chargers. Instead, Southwest\u2019s Vice President of Safety and Security Dave Hunt said the airline will stress this to travellers when they book their flights and arrive at the airport while explaining the potential dangers.
That alone might be a big help because most people don\u2019t seem to be aware of the risks, said Jeff Marootian, who is CEO of UL Standards & Engagement, which establishes the guidelines for the makers of these chargers and other electronic devices.<\/p>\n
\u201cA huge part of the concern here is seeing that number of incidents continue to increase, correlating, of course, to the number of devices that people are bringing on planes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Federal Aviation Administration said more lithium battery incidents are reported every year and hit 97 in 2025 as everyone carries more re-chargable devices like phones, iPads, laptops and these portable chargers. Marootian said that his organisation hears about two incidents every week, and reported a 42% increase in the number of incidents involving portable chargers in 2025.<\/p>\n
One of the worst happened in January 2025 when a devastating fire aboard an Air Busan plane waiting to take off from an airport in South Korea forced the evacuation of all 176 people aboard before the fire burned through the plane\u2019s roof.<\/p>\n
Flight attendants have fire-resistant bags and insulated gloves to put overheating devices into to contain any potential blaze. Southwest\u2019s Hunt said the airline\u2019s new rule will \u201cstrengthen our ability to contain and mitigate lithium battery incidents, including reducing the risk of battery fires.\u201d<\/p>\n
To help make the rule workable for passengers, Southwest plans to equip all of its planes with in-seat power by the middle of next year.<\/p>\n
Aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo, who flew for United Airlines for 37 years, said he thinks Southwest\u2019s new policy is a positive step to reduce the risk. Even though the number of fires is small compared to the roughly 100,000 flights every day around the globe, the potential consequences of a battery fire can be disastrous.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can turn into something very serious very quickly,\u201d Arroyo said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n