Associated Press, by Josh Funk
Passengers on Southwest Airlines flights will soon be needed to keep their portable chargers in front of them while using them due to concerns about an increase in lithium battery fires in new policies that other airlines may adopt.
Southwest announced that the new policy will come into effect on May 28th, saying passengers may already be seeing notifications about industry-leading rules when using airline apps.
As the number of incidents continues to grow every year and devices with these batteries are ubiquitous, concerns are growing about lithium-ion battery fires on planes. Federal Aviation Administration statistics show that, following last year’s record high of 89, there have already been 19 incidents involving these batteries this year.
The incident has more than doubled in 2020 from the low of 39 during the pandemic era, and is rising every year.
Compared to the roughly 180,000 flights run weekly by US airlines, the number of incidents is still relatively small, and lithium batteries can be over-occurring everywhere. However, this has led to increased concern for airlines.
Last summer, a laptop that smoked in a passenger’s bag led to the evacuation of a plane waiting to take off at San Francisco International Airport. In 2023, a flight from Dallas to Orlando, Florida made an emergency landing in Jacksonville, Florida.
Southwest said it would be helpful to require these chargers to be stored open when they are in use.
Airlines will allow you to store your chargers in carry-on baggage when they are not in use.
Transportation Security Administration has long banned e-cigarettes, chargers and power banks with lithium-ion batteries in check bags, but it allows them in carry-on bags. Rules exist because it can be difficult to detect and destroy cargo storage fires.
The FAA recommends that passengers keep mobile phones and other devices nearby on the plane, so they will be accessible quickly. The agency said flight crews are trained to recognize and respond to lithium battery fires. Passengers must notify the squadron immediately if the lithium battery or device is overheating, magnifying, smoking, or burning.
A previous report released last year by UL Standards & Engagement said that e-cigarettes overheat more frequently than any other device. More than a quarter of the passengers surveyed for that study said they put vaping cigarettes and portable chargers in their check bags. It goes against federal regulations.
UL Standard and Engagement, part of a safety sciences company once known as Underwriters Laboratories, said it was based on data on 35 passengers and cargo aviation, including nine of the 10 major US major passenger carriers.
Original issue: May 20, 2025, 1:36pm EDT
