Popeyes is launching 'Emotional Support Chicken' for stressed travelers craving fried chicken

Popeyes

Popeyes is launching "Emotional Support Chicken."

• Popeyes is launching "Emotional Support Chicken" for travelers this holiday season.
• On Tuesday, the chicken chain announced that it is selling fried chicken in an "Emotional Support Chicken" carrier at Philadelphia International Airport.
• Emotional-support animals have been making headlines recently, from a woman who tried to bring an emotional-support peacock on a United Airlines flight to a woman who claims that Spirit Airlines employees convinced her to flush her hamster down the toilet.

Popeyes is launching "Emotional Support Chicken" for stressed-out travelers this holiday season.

On Tuesday, the chicken chain announced that it is selling a three-piece chicken tenders at Philadelphia International Airport with an "Emotional Support Chicken" carrier. The special chicken will be available as supplies last starting Tuesday at the Popeyes location in Terminal C.

Emotional-support animals have been making headlines recently, as passengers have pushed for increasingly bizarre companions on flights.

The number of emotional-support animals traveling aboard commercial flights has jumped 74% from 481,000 in 2016 to 751,000 in 2017, according to trade group Airlines For America. In January, a woman tried to bring an emotional-support peacock on a United Airlines flight. And, in February, another woman claims that Spirit Airlines told her to flush her emotional-support hamster down the toilet.

Read more: A Spirit passenger claims employees suggested she flush her emotional-support hamster down the toilet - and she did it

Popeyes

The "Emotional Support Chicken" in action.

"Popeyes decided to offer its own version of 'emotional support animals pushing the envelope' by offering travelers 'Emotional Support Chicken' - a gesture designed to bring holiday travelers some needed humor to what is one of the most stressful places to be during the holidays - the airport," the chain said in a press release.

The timing of the Emotional Support Chicken offering perhaps is even more timely than Popeyes could have predicted.

Earlier in December, Delta announced that emotional-support and service animals will be barred from flights lasting eight hours. The airline will also no longer allow any emotional-support and service animals less than four months old to be on flights of any length.