‘The madness stops today’: Why a major US airport’s viral ‘Pajama ban’ just sparked a national fury

Tampa International Airport said it does not plan to ban passengers from wearing pyjamas after a social media post suggesting such a move drew millions of views and widespread reaction. The airport wrote on its official X account on Thursday that after going “Crocs-free”, it had “seen enough” of pyjamas. “The madness stops today. The movement starts now,” the post said. By mid-afternoon Eastern time, it had been viewed 5.7 million times and sparked debate in the comments about what people should wear when flying. > pic.twitter.com/mjHyM5KZkG— Tampa International Airport ✈️ (@FlyTPA) February 26, 2026 pic.twitter.com/mjHyM5KZkG ## Why did the Airport post it? Beau Zimmer, a spokesperson for the airport, told the Associated Press that the message was part of the airport’s long-running social media style. “Our regular social media followers just eat this stuff up,” Zimmer said. “But obviously this is all in fun, and we encourage our travellers to be comfortable.” The airport later issued a statement confirming the post was a joke. “Today’s post about ‘banning’ pyjamas was another playful nod to day-of-travel fashion debates,” the statement said. “We encourage our passengers to travel comfortably and appreciate our loyal followers who enjoy the online humour.” Zimmer said the airport’s online personality began more than a decade ago, when a young intern started sharing light-hearted posts on what was then Twitter. ## Who all reacted? US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy responded to the post with a GIF of actor John Krasinski from the television show The Office looking into the camera and saying, “Yes!” > https://t.co/B9lstWTFTY pic.twitter.com/RlmRxd9JaO— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) February 26, 2026 https://t.co/B9lstWTFTY pic.twitter.com/RlmRxd9JaO Duffy has recently encouraged passengers to dress more formally while flying. Last November, he launched a civility campaign called “The Golden Age of Travel Starts with You”. The Transportation Department said at the time that the campaign was “intended to jumpstart a nationwide conversation around how we can all restore courtesy and class to air travel”. The airport’s X account has built a following for its light tone and comments about travel and local events. Earlier this month, after the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Boston Bruins in a National Hockey League game, the airport posted: “Oh, and safe flight home to all the Bruins fans today :)” In another recent post, the airport referred to confusion between its code “TPA” and “TIA”, which is used by an airport in Albania. Airport officials said Thursday’s post about pyjamas was simply another example of that approach and not a real policy proposal.