Southwest clamps down on chargers

Southwest is changing two of the little things travelers used to treat as givens: the backup battery in your bag and the price of checking a suitcase. Starting April 20, the airline says each passenger can bring only one portable charger, and it has to stay on you or under the seat instead of in the overhead bin. (cbsnews.com) The size cap is 100 watt-hours, which is the battery rating printed on many power banks or listed in the product specs. Southwest also says the charger cannot be recharged during the flight and cannot be used to charge a device while stored in an overhead bin. (aviationweek.com) (airdatanews.com) The reason is not phone etiquette. It is lithium battery fire risk, which gets harder to manage when a battery is zipped into a bag above everyone’s heads instead of sitting where a passenger or flight attendant can see it quickly. (faa.gov) The Federal Aviation Administration warned airlines in Safety Alert for Operators 25002 that lithium batteries in overhead bins or buried in carry-on bags may be “obscured” and harder to monitor. The agency said delayed detection can slow firefighting if a battery goes into thermal runaway, which is the chain reaction that makes a battery overheat and ignite. (faa.gov) Federal rules already barred spare lithium batteries and power banks from checked luggage, so Southwest is going further inside the cabin rather than inventing the basic rule from scratch. The Federal Aviation Administration also says that if a carry-on is checked at the gate, spare batteries and power banks must be removed and kept with the passenger. (faa.gov 1) (faa.gov 2) Southwest told CBS News Texas that the one-charger rule begins April 20, and Aviation Week reported the policy was circulated to employees in an internal memo from Dave Hunt, the airline’s vice president of safety and security. That timing puts the change in the middle of a broader airline push to tighten battery handling after a run of onboard incidents. (cbsnews.com) (aviationweek.com) Then came the second change, and this one hits the wallet. Southwest said on April 7 that it was raising first and second checked-bag fees by $10 for reservations ticketed or voluntarily changed on or after April 9. (swamedia.com) That moves the first checked bag to $45 and the second to $55 on the fares that do not include free bags. Southwest said A-List Preferred members and Choice Extra customers still get two free checked bags. (swamedia.com) (airlinegeeks.com) The airline’s public explanation for the fee increase was an “ongoing analysis of the business” and an “evolving global backdrop.” Outside coverage tied the move to a recent spike in jet fuel prices, and Southwest is not alone: United, JetBlue, Delta, Alaska, and Hawaiian have also raised bag fees in the same stretch. (swamedia.com) (usatoday.com) (msn.com) What makes the pairing stand out is Southwest’s recent history. Less than a year after ending its long-running “bags fly free” policy for all passengers, the airline is now charging more for checked luggage while also telling travelers to be more selective about what backup power they bring onboard. (nbcdfw.com) (usatoday.com) For passengers, the practical change is simple: check the watt-hour rating before you leave home, carry only one power bank if you are flying Southwest after April 20, keep it within reach during the flight, and expect checked bags to cost more if your fare does not include them. The airline used to be the carrier where travelers packed without thinking much about either rule, and now both are part of the preflight checklist. (faa.gov) (cbsnews.com) (swamedia.com)