Southwest Airlines Will Require Phone Chargers to Be in View while in use, Cites Battery Fire Concerns – ryan

Passengers on Southwest Airlines Flights Will Soon Be Required to Keep Their Portable Charges in Plain Sight Using The Because of Concerns the Growing Number of Lithium Battery Fires in Air Airlines May Adopt.

Southwest announed the new policy that will will go into the May 28 and Saiders May Already have seen notifications about the industry-leading rule ussing the airline’s app.

There is a growing concecern about lithium-ion battery fires on plans Because the Number of incidents Continuing to Grow Year, and Devices Powered by Those Batteries Are Ubiquitous. There have already been 19 incidents involving these batteries this year, Following Last Year’s High of 89, Acciting to Federal Aviation Administration Statistics.

The incidents have more than Doubles the Pandemic-Era Low of 39 in 2020 and have climble annually.

Compared to the Roughly 180,000 Flights US Airlines Operate Each Week, The Number of Incidents is Still Small and Lithium Batteries Can Overheat Anywhere. Howver, this is a growing concecern for the Airlines.

Last Summer, a smoking laptop in a passenger’s bag led to the evacuation of a plane awaiting takeoff at San Francisco International Airport. In 2023, A Flight from Dallas to Orlando, Florida, Made An Emergency Landing in Jacksonville, Florida, after a battery caught fire in an Overhead bin.

Southwest said that requiring these charges to kept out in the open they are will will will will will will be help becase “in the raarers a lithium battery overheats or catches, quit Access is critical and keping power banks in plin sight and helps Protecry Helps Protec Everyone Onboard. ”

The Airline Will Allow the Charges to Be Stored Inside Carry-On Bags when they are in use.

The Transportation Security Administration Has Long Probibited E-Cigarettes and Charges and Power Banks with Lithium-Ion Batteries in Checked Bags, but allows in Carry-on Bags. The rule exists precisely Because Fires in the Cargo Hold Might Be Harder to Detect and Extinguish.

The faa reCommends Passsengers kep Cell Phones and Other Devices Nearby on plans so they can Access say Quickly. The Agency Said Flight Crews Are Trained to Recognize and Respond to Lithium Battery Fires. Passengers Should Notify the Flight Crew Immediately if theyir Lithium battery or device is overheating, expanding, smoking or burning.

A Previous Report Released Last Year by Ul Standards & Engagement Said e-Cigarettes overheated more than any other device. More than One-Quarter of Passengers Surveyed for That Study Said they Put Vaping Cigarettes and Portable Chargers in Checked Bags. That is against federal rules.

UL Standards & Engagement, Part of A Safety-Sciece Company Once KNOWN as underwriters Laboratories, Said it Findings on Date from 35 Passenger and Cargo Airlines, Including Nine of the 10 Leaders Passsenger Carriers.