The TSA Could Eventually Ban These Common Battery-Operated Items, According To Reddit

Sometimes it feels like the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is going to find a way to ban everything except your underwear. Sure, when the TSA finds guns in strollers or stuffed into peanut butter, they're doing their job well. When they confiscate your kid's beloved and banned stuffed animal because it's "weighted" and therefore not suitable for a plane's overhead compartment? Not so much. Thankfully, some long-standing rules like the annoying 3-ounce liquid rule might be ditched in the future. But even as old rules change, new rules blossom. And if discussions on Reddit are to be believed, the TSA could eventually ban electric toothbrushes, electric shavers, Bluetooth headsets, game controllers, tablets, smartwatches, and more. But before folks have any unwarranted meltdowns, it'd be wise to look at the connection between all of those devices. They all use lithium-ion batteries, which are currently banned in checked baggage on flights, but not on carry-ons.

That is, separate uninstalled batteries are banned, not the devices that use them and contain them. You can't put backup batteries in checked bags because they can overheat in a plane's cargo hold at best, and catch fire and blow up at worst. If a battery is crushed, shaken, or exposed to extreme temperatures, amongst other things — all of which can happen on a flight — it can lead to "thermal runaway," which no one on board wants to happen. This means that the aforementioned Reddit threads are nothing more than bugbears. Granted, the TSA's ban on lithium-ion batteries in checked bags is a recent 2025 change, so some confusion is to be expected. That doesn't mean, however, that particular global airlines can't make their own lithium-ion battery and device rules. 

Not being able to pack your electric toothbrush on a flight would be a minor inconvenience, at best, unless you're really attached to your toothbrush. But headphones or tablets? That'd be quite a bit more of a hassle, one to justify the anxiety circulating through recent Reddit threads. That being said, plenty of individual airlines across the world followed TSA's recent ban on lithium batteries in checked bags by implementing similar rules. Some upped the ante.

VietJet, for instance — a Vietnamese airline — has not only stated that power banks have to be carried in carry-ons, but also out and visible during flights. In a company-wide government-mandated move, all South Korean airlines implemented the same rule. These airlines also went one step further to altogether disallow the charging of devices during flights. The same goes for Thai Airways, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia's AirAsia, and others. Japan Airlines, meanwhile, has opted for the same route as VietJet, necessitating power banks being carried in hand during flights and not kept in carry-ons. 

European carriers have also followed suit. Dutch airline KLM requires lithium-ion batteries to be kept under passenger supervision during flights. Budget carrier EasyJet, for its part, has no rule about keeping lithium-ion batteries on your person, but does say that each spare battery in your carry-on must be individually sealed to prevent short circuits. The same goes for Turkish Airlines. Amidst all these regulations, the good news is: No one anywhere is planning on outright banning lithium-ion devices or their batteries from flights altogether, TSA included. It's up to you, the traveler, to check the specific lithium-ion battery regulations of the airline that you're using. It could never be worth it if some disaster happens, no matter how unlikely.