News

Southwest limits passengers to one power bank from April 20, 2026

• Rules and standards
• Secondary source
• Background
• Independent, not affiliated with SpaceX

Event date

Apr 8, 2026

Effective

Apr 20, 2026

Published

Oct 6, 2026

Last updated

Oct 6, 2026

Background. This event is more than 90 days old. We keep it for reference; it is not current news.

What changed at a glance

What changed

Southwest Airlines now allows each passenger to carry one portable charger, or power bank, from April 20, 2026. The Associated Press reported the change on April 8, 2026. Under the new rule, according to the AP:

• one power bank per passenger;
• it has to stay with you or in your under-seat bag, not in an overhead bin, and never in checked luggage;
• you can’t recharge it from the in-seat power outlets.

Southwest’s limit is stricter than the international rule that took effect on March 27, 2026, which allows two power banks per passenger (our post on the ICAO change). The AP reported that Southwest doesn’t plan to enforce it aggressively through bag searches; it will tell passengers about the rule when they book and at the airport.

The AP also cited FAA figures: 97 lithium battery incidents on flights in 2025, with incidents involving portable chargers up 42% that year.

Who it affects

Anyone flying Southwest with a power bank. For Mini owners the practical case is someone flying to a trip and planning to run the Mini at the other end from a USB-C PD bank. Starlink says the Mini needs a USB PD source of at least 100 W, and those high-output banks are often large.

It doesn’t change the battery size limits. The FAA’s general limit for a spare lithium-ion battery without airline approval is 100 watt-hours; that value renders from our data file below. The AP report we read doesn’t give a separate Southwest watt-hour limit.

What it means for your power setup

If you used to fly with two banks, one for the Mini and one for your phone, on Southwest you now choose one. Two ways to handle that:

• Carry one bank that can run the Mini and charge a phone. A 100 W PD bank under 100 Wh does both. Our USB-C power bank guide shows what to look for on the label and why many “100 W” banks still fail.
• Plan to power the Mini differently at the destination. A car outlet, a wall outlet or a power station you don’t have to fly with. The best battery for a Mini sorts the options by use.

Pack the Mini itself and its power supply as you normally would; see Mini cases. This rule is about spare lithium batteries.

What to do

1. Before you fly Southwest, count the power banks in your carry-on and personal item. Keep one.
2. Check its watt-hour rating on the label. Keep it at or under 100 Wh unless you’ve confirmed otherwise with the airline.
3. Don’t put it in an overhead bin or a checked bag, and don’t plug it into seat power.
4. Check Southwest’s own lithium battery page before each trip; airline rules have changed twice in a year.

What stays the same

• Power banks remain banned from checked bags on all US airlines, per the FAA.
• The FAA’s watt-hour limits: unchanged.
• Other US airlines’ rules: not changed by Southwest’s decision. Check each airline you fly.

What we don’t know yet

• Southwest’s own published wording for the one-bank rule. We read Southwest’s hazardous materials page, which links to a separate lithium battery article we couldn’t retrieve; this post relies on the AP report for the count and stowage details.
• Whether other US airlines will match the one-bank limit. We don’t predict; we’ll report it if one does.