Southwest Changes Wheelchair Battery, Size Policies
Southwest Airlines has changed its policies for transporting wheelchairs and mobility devices, with new rules going into effect Sept. 25, 2025.
Starting on that date, “wheelchairs and devices with a height that exceeds 34 inches (86.36 cm) or a width or depth that exceeds 45 inches (114.2 cm) will not be accepted for travel,” the airline said on its website. Southwest already declined to transport wheelchairs and mobility devices weighing more than 500 lbs. (approximately 226.8 kg).
The airline’s Wheelchair/Mobility Aid Information Form — which Southwest asks wheelchair riders to fill out and attach to the mobility device being transported — says lithium-ion batteries “must be removed and transported in cabin” and “must be 300 watt-hours or less.”
A number of mainstream media organizations, including The Hill, reported that the change in battery policy was made for safety issues, with a Southwest executive saying that lithium batteries are “one of the most common” sources of smoke and fire on airplanes.
Michael J. Fox Foundation Awards $5M Grant to French Biotechnology Company Focused on the Blood-Brain Barrier
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) has awarded a $5 million grant to Lys Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on treatments that target the blood-brain barrier.
The company, based in Lyon and Caen, France, will be using the grant to “accelerate the clinical development of LYS241,” which Lys Therapeutics describes as its “first-in-class monoclonal antibody for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders,” it said in a Sept. 22 announcement.
The grant is part of the MJFF’s new Therapeutic Pipeline Program to support the completion of preclinical development and the launch of first-in-human clinical trials.
LYS241 is designed “to neutralize the pathological mechanisms associated with blood-brain barrier dysfunction, a central process in many neurological diseases,” Lys Therapeutics said. “Impairment of the blood-brain barrier promotes entry of toxic molecules and inflammatory cells into the central nervous system, leading to neuroinflammation, excitotoxicity, and neuronal death.”
