By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) – Southwest Airlines said on Tuesday it will limit passengers to one lithium portable charger on flights and ban them from being stowed in overhead bins to reduce risks of inflight battery fires.
The new policy on power banks is effective April 20 and Southwest also said portable chargers are no longer allowed to be recharged using in-seat power.
Last month, the United Nations aviation agency — the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization — said the use of power banks, or portable, rechargeable battery packs, would be limited to two per passenger as part of new rules for using the devices while in the air and it prohibited recharging the power banks during flights.
Airlines such as the Lufthansa Group and countries including South Korea had already been introducing restrictions on the use of power banks on flights, following incidents like a fire on an Air Busan plane in 2025.
The ICAO normally sets global standards for aviation that are mostly approved by its 193-member states. The new specifications regarding power banks are effective immediately.
In September, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued a safety alert to airlines over risks from lithium batteries in aircraft passenger compartments, citing numerous serious incidents.
The FAA said there were 97 battery incidents involving smoke, fire or extreme heat on flights last year, up from 89 in 2024.
Southwest said portable power banks must be stored in a passenger’s under-seat carry-on or be with them. The airline said its new policy is being implemented “to strengthen our ability to contain and mitigate lithium battery incidents, including reducing the risk of battery fires.”
Southwest said by mid-2027 its entire fleet will feature in-seat power, reducing reliance on portable chargers.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Franklin Paul and Bill Berkrot)
