Maybe it’s a marketing ploy to change the TSA’s recent image, or maybe it’s genuine Christmas cheer. Whatever it is, the TSA’s decision to use all-employee Christmas choirs at two airports to cheer up travelers is turning heads.

USA Today reports:

The LAX TSA Choir, a group of 17 singers and musicians, all of them officers of the Transportation Security Administration, have been surprising passengers with performances of holiday music and other tunes in the midst of one of the nation’s busiest airports.

“Wow, it’s crazy,” said Miriam Kositchek of Santa Monica, Calif., who was clutching her ticket and passport for a flight to London when the LAX TSA Choir broke into song at the Bradley International Terminal of Los Angeles International Airport Wednesday afternoon.

“In this climate, where travel is so scrutinized and security is so tight, it’s nice,” she said. “It adds some lightheartedness to travel.”

Airports around the country have scheduled musical performances during this time of heavy holiday travel to try to brighten the experience for harried travelers. The choir here is one of just two — the other is at the airport in Austin — made up entirely of TSA workers, said TSA spokesman Greg Soule in Washington.