Southwest Airlines unveils new portable charger rule for passenger safety

The Texas-based airline will be "requiring customers to keep portable charging devices visible while in use during flight," a Southwest spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of its customers and employees."

The FAA website notes that "all lithium-ion batteries are capable of overheating and experiencing a process called thermal runaway."

The policy will begin on May 28. Customers with the Southwest app have shared that they are receiving notifications about the policy already. 

In the "r/SouthwestAirlines" forum on Reddit, a user shared a screenshot of the notification, titling the post, "I had no idea this was an issue."

The post said, "Got this pop-up for the first time, and I'm baffled."