Southwest Airlines will require chargers be kept out while in use because of battery fire concerns

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Southwest Airlines will require chargers be kept out while in use because of battery fire concerns

By JOSH FUNK
Updated 4:37 PM EDT, May 20, 2025

Passengers on Southwest Airlines flights will soon be required to keep their portable chargers in plain sight while using them because of concerns about the growing number of lithium battery fires in a new policy that other airlines may adopt.

Southwest announced the new policy that will go into effect May 28 and said passengers may have already seen notifications about the rule when using the airline’s app. While Southwest is the first U.S. airline to restrict the use of portable chargers, several Asian airlines have taken action earlier this year after a devastating fire aboard an Air Busan plane waiting to take off from an airport in South Korea in January.

There is growing concern about lithium-ion battery fires on planes because the number of incidents continues to grow yearly, and devices powered by those batteries are ubiquitous. There have already been 19 incidents involving these batteries this year, following last year’s record high of 89, according to Federal Aviation Administration statistics.

The incidents have more than doubled since the pandemic-era low of 39 in 2020, and have climbed annually.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/airplanes-lithium-ion-batteries-fire-southwest-hazard-736e74e55a6467b0b12e3938653de169

[Callalily]

1. In theory, that's a good idea.

I think that it would be very difficult to enforce.

I always take the batteries out of my GoPro and slip them in my purse. That should be safe enough.