Southwest Surprises Customers With Strict New Policy — the First of Its Kind in the Industry

. . .Southwest Airlines is implementing a surprising new restriction on portable chargers to keep these notoriously incendiary devices from bursting into flame mid-flight.

Starting May 28, passengers will be required to keep their power banks in plain sight, making the budget carrier the first to roll out a policy of this kind.

“Using portable charging devices while stored in a bag or overhead bin will no longer be permitted,” a Southwest spokesperson told Business Insider. “Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of its customers and employees.”

The airlines will, however, allow passengers to keep the devices in their carry-on bags when not in use.

The logic is that the portable phone juicers run on lithium-ion batteries that can overheat and ignite, so keeping them in plain sight allows flight attendants to identify and extinguish the hazard before it’s too late.

“In the rare event a lithium battery overheats or catches fire, quick access is critical and keeping power banks in plain sight allows for faster intervention and helps protect everyone onboard,” a Southwest rep said, according to Fortune. (Read more from “Southwest Surprises Customers With Strict New Policy — the First of Its Kind in the Industry” HERE)

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