We all heard earlier this week about United Airlines' decision to, among other things, start charging economy passengers for food on international flights. which I wrote about in the Aug. 21 issue (subscribers only) of Aviation Daily. And you can click here to listen to the Things With Wings radio show earlier this week on this very topic.

I remember seeing the memo outlining the changes on Tuesday. Thanks to the Internet, it spread like wildfire and dozens of stories and blog posts started appearing about the changes.  And FlyerTalk's United message boards were burning up with overwhelming opposition to the move.

So why did it take United so long -- late Aug. 21 -- to issue a press release on the food moves? By this time, the horse had ran out of the barn, eaten some hay, galloped a few miles, impregnated a mare...oh, sorry - I'm taking a vacation on a horse farm this week.  Anywhoo, they had to know -- especially from reporters like me -- that the story was out and needed to be managed.

Believe me, having done corporate communications for a major and regional airline, there's no good way to explain a policy where travelers feel they are losing something, especially after the airlines have been adding on myriad oil-related fees. But the memo on UA's survey on an international BOB had already been released (as our good friend The Cranky Flier blogged about Aug. 4). They had to know that they were moving forward, so why allow the story to get so out of control?

The only explanation is the one Forrester Research's travel VP Henry Harteveldt said on the radio show earlier this week -- the inmates are running the asylum.