I don't know about you, but if I had to take a 12 hour or so trip across the Pacific Ocean (something I used to do with regularity), at the very bottom of my list of criteria for selecting a flight would be the presence of a cartoon figure beloved of little girls in the exterior and interior of the airplane. But what do I know? Evidently, cuteness sells, at least in East Asia. Why else would Eva Air, a Taiwan-based airline with a global route structure, decorate and then heavily promote 6 jumbo jets in its fleet devoted to the theme of Hello Kitty? Lest you think Eva Air is some small outfit, it is part of the Evergreen Group, one of the larger operators of cargo ships in the world, and a formidable airline in its own right. Eva Air was already flying 5 Airbus A 330 jumbos on routes within Asia, but this week, the company began service to America on a sixth plane specially outfitted.  Check out the exterior of their latest Hello Kitty ship, a Boeing 777 now being operated...(Read Full Post)