Southwest has announced a new policy that will take effect from May 28 and said passengers may have seen notification of the regulation when using the airline's application.
Southwest said that requiring these backup chargers to be placed in a breathable place when used would be helpful because "in the rare case of lithium batteries that are too hot or cause a fire, quick access is important and leaving the backup charger in a Vuitable Place will help get in on the hands and help protect everyone on the plane."
Southwest is the first US airline to limit the use of backup chargers.
Several Asian airlines took action earlier this year after a terrible fire on an Air Busan aircraft waiting to take off from an airfield in South Korea in January 2025.
People are increasingly concerned about lithium-ion batteries on airplanes because the number of cases continues to increase every year and devices using this type of battery are very popular.
According to statistics from the US Federal Aviation Administration, there were 19 cases related to this type of battery in 2025, after a record 89 cases in 2024.
Some studies show that the backup charger may be the second cause of airplanes' battery burns, after e-cigarettes.
Compared to the about 180,000 flights that US airlines operate per week, the number of incidents is still relatively small and lithium batteries can be too hot anywhere. However, this is a growing concern for airlines.
In the fire of the Korean airline in January this year, all 176 people on board had to be evacuated because the fire burned down the entire roof of the plane. The cause of the fire has not yet been officially determined, but several airlines and Korean regulators have taken drastic action afterwards.
Korean airlines will no longer allow passengers to store spare chargers in high-altitude storage compartments; they must be packaged in plastic bags or the charging port is covered with a protective heat band to avoid touching metal.
In addition, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways both ban the use or charging of spare batteries during flights.
Last summer, a laptop was emitting smoke in passenger bags, forcing a plane waiting to take off at San Francisco International Airport to evacuate.
In 2023, a flight from Dallas to Orlando, Florida made an emergency landing in Jacksonville, Florida after a backup charging station caught fire in an airbag.
The airline will allow storage of chargers inside carry-on baggage when not in use.
