Southwest’s New Power Bank Rule Takes Effect May 28—Here’s What Travelers Need to Know

A Southwest Airlines flight attendant stands in the aisle of an airplane while performing the safety demonstration

Southwest Airlines is introducing new portable power bank rules on May 28, which it describes as a ‘first-in-industry’ policy for US airlines.

Passengers traveling with Southwest from May 28 will have to be particularly careful about how they pack and use their portable chargers.

The policy shift follows a spate of dangerous incidents involving power banks on airplanes in recent months.

In a Nutshell

From May 28, 2025, Southwest Airlines is introducing a ‘first-in-industry’ power bank policy that will require passengers to keep their portable chargers in sight when they are being used during a flight. Power banks can not be used to charge devices when they are stored in a bag or an overhead bin.

The change at Southwest follows similar policies introduced by a slew of top Asian carriers, as well as the German flag carrier Lufthansa, following a spate of incidents involving portable power banks overheating and catching on fire.

The hope is that by keeping power banks visible and easily accessible, passengers and flight attendants can respond at the first sign of a lithium battery ‘thermal runaway’ event and prevent a fire that quickly spreads.

What Passengers Need to Know

The new rules will apply to all Southwest Airlines flights.
You can still carry power banks with you, but Southwest is urging you to be vigilant when you use them to charge other devices.
Customers who check in on the Southwest mobile app will also get a pop-up notification reminding them of the rules.

How We Got Here

The risk of portable power bank fires has been known for a long time, and for years, the aviation industry has banned passengers from packing lithium batteries in their checked luggage unless they get special permission and follow strict rules to mitigate the risk.

While the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) hasn’t changed its rules around passengers carrying power banks and other lithium batteries in their carry-on bags, airlines have started to adopt their own policies following a particularly serious incident several months ago.

On January 28, 2025, a power bank in a carry-on bag in a closed overhead bin aboard an Air Busan airplane in South Korea overheated and caught fire. By the time anyone realized what was happening, the fire had already taken hold and was quickly spreading.

Thankfully, the plane was still on the ground when the fire broke out, and everyone was able to evacuate via the emergency slides with only a few minor injuries reported. The Airbus A321 was, however, completely destroyed in the fire.

What Southwest Airlines is Saying

“Southwest will introduce a first-in-industry Safety policy on May 28, requiring Customers to keep portable charging devices visible while in use during flight.”

“Using portable charging devices while stored in a bag or overhead bin will no longer be permitted.”

“Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of its Customers and Employees,”

The Bigger Picture

Any device powered by a lithium battery–be it a cellphone, laptop, e-cigarette, or power bank has the potential to overheat and catch fire.
This process is called ‘thermal runaway.’
The term ‘thermal runaway’ comes from the fact that Lithium-ion batteries are made of lots of fuel cells. When one cell overheats, this can quickly spread to the next cell and so on until the power bank explodes into flames.
A thermal runaway can cause lots of heat, sparks, fire, and smoke and can be very difficult to extinguish

While thermal runaway can affect many different types of electronic devices, airlines are especially worried about portable power banks because the lithium batteries in them are generally much larger and can, therefore, create a much bigger fire.

Watch a thermal runaway

Surveillance cameras at Tallinn Airport in Estonia caught the moment that a passenger’s portable battery pack exploded in their carry-on luggage during an inspection at the security checkpoint in April.

Thankfully, a quick-thinking security officer tackled the fire with a heavy-duty fire extinguisher, although smoke continued to billow out of the case.

“It was a “lucky” accident because the battery bank exploded BEFORE arriving on the plane,” the airport said in a post on Facebook. “We’re all glad this didn’t happen on the flight.”

Comparing the Rules

There’s a growing gulf between how different airlines are responding to the threat posed by portable power banks, and policies can vary greatly from one carrier to the next.

United Airlines: No restrictions on using portable power banks inflight, but the carrier says that lithium batteries should be stored in manufacturer-approved packaging to avoid the risk of a short circuit.

Delta Air Lines: Again, Delta doesn’t place any restrictions on using portable power banks inflight. Passengers can bring 20 spare batteries with them in their hand luggage but Delts suggests these are stored in original packaging.

American Airlines: As with Delta and United, there are no restrictions on using power banks on flights, but passengers are restricted to carrying just two spare batteries in their carry-on luggage.

Several Asian airlines have introduced similar rules to Southwest, including the likes of Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific, as well as Malaysian Airlines and Thai Airways.