Planning to fly Southwest Airlines in the near future? You’ll need to pay extra attention to what you toss in your carry-on later this month.
The carrier will roll out new rules starting April 20 that limit passengers to one lithium battery-powered portable charger or power bank. Those, too, will no longer be allowed to be stored in overhead bins. Instead, passengers will need to keep them in front of them or under their person’s seat.
And if you’re thinking about using the in-seat outlet to recharge the charger, forget it. That won’t be allowed when the new rules take effect, according to an internal memo sent to Southwest employees and shared with Moneywise.
“At Southwest Airlines, safety and security are core values,” Dave Hunt, Southwest’s vice president of safety and security, wrote in the memo. “This new policy, along with our existing standards for lithium batteries used in mobility aids, is part of our 2026 safety and security objectives, which focus on improving our safety and security culture while reducing injuries, damages, and safety incidents.”
The limit on batteries is a significant change to the rules already in place in the Southwest. Before April 20, passengers can bring 20 extra batteries (1) and power banks on board. They, however, could not be placed in checked baggage – and passengers were prohibited from charging their devices in their bags or overhead bins.
The new rules are being implemented as a precaution.
Since March 2006, there have been 709 verified in-flight incidents involving batteries – and the Federal Aviation Administration (2) notes that this number is much higher.
This year alone, as of April 1, there have been 14 verified incidents involving lithium batteries in aircraft. Those incidents involved smoke, fire or excessive heat. Seven other incidents are yet to be verified.
The process of overheating is called thermal runaway — and the FAA says there’s no way to know when it’s about to happen.
“Thermal runaway can occur without warning as a result of a variety of factors, including if the battery is damaged, overheated, exposed to water, overcharged, or improperly packed,” reads a post on the FAA website (3). “Thermal runaway itself can also occur due to manufacturing defects.”
