Testing my iPhone camera

Here's a test picture from my iPhone camera.

FINALLY!

Well I finally got my iPhone!!! Completly excited!!

I can finally stop walking around with my Blackberry on one hand and my iTouch on he other. Personally, I HATED the Blackberry. Buuut AT&T wouldn't let me upgrade until November! I tried and tried, to no avail (I live in Dallas and no store would upgrade me). Now, I had to travel to Puerto Rico last week, and tried it there. And what do you know, the rep just sent an email and told me to call back in 1 hour. I did and VOILA! I have an iPhone!! What did he do, who did he call, no idea! But I have my iPhone, and that's all that matters (last time the guy from an AT&T store in Dallas took 5 days to get an "answer", all to say "NO" in the end).

Anywho, did I mention I have my iPhone??! yeah yeah, I'm excited.

I beleive this little machine to be the future of communications and business. Forget my Blackberry, now I'm using my iPhone for my company email and Calendar. And now the rumors of the Apple tablet make it all more exciting. The future looks very exciting indeed for Apple fans like me!

Anime and how it got me my job.

I still remember that day like it was yesterday. The day I bought my first Anime movie, and it was called Macross Plus. I still remember the sensation I had when I first put that VHS and hit play. How the very first scene was of airplanes called Valkries (they transform into robots) dogfighting in space, and how I wanted to be Isamu Dyson, the fighter pilot star of the movie. This movie, along with anything that had the name Macross on it, created a passion in me that led me to seek a job in the Airline Industry. I couldn't be a fighter pilot for many reasons, so I decided to look for a job on the next best thing.

I may sound like a crazed Anime Otaku (fanboy), but in reality I'm a professional today and a Manager at an airline. I don't spend hours watching Anime, but I give my thanks to this form of entertainment for getting me a job I love. Airplanes are a passion of mine, and being around them all day is something I look forward to every day. I wonder how many careers have started this way. How many people, be it by watching Anime or inspired by their childhood heroes in any other form of entertainment, are working today on their respective fields because of it.

For many people, Anime is like an obscure thing, something only weird people would watch (but rush into theaters when an Anime inspired movie opens). They see these kids as outcasts. And I can relate. Some of them are not social people and dress funny. Some of them just won't do anything else other than watch Anime all life and are still in their mom's basement at my age. But I bet that at least some of this Otaku will become professionals one day. Maybe they will go to work on something inspired by what they loved in Anime, and become good at it!

Maybe I'm the only one who wonders this things, but it seems like a valid topic for people to talk about.

Today I still own that movie on DVD and watch it from time to time. There are sometimes I like to wander off to the Macross universe and relieve that first experience from so many years ago. My wife laughs when I put it and tells me I'm a 30 year old kid. Maybe I am. But being that big kid has actually gotten me where I am now. It has driven me to success and to build a career. Now I get to work with real airplanes, but I still feel like that kid when I see our planes take off into the sky, and that sensation it's what keeps me going. All thanks to Anime.

American Airlines Named One of Top 60 Companies for Hispanics by Hispanic Business Magazine

American Airlines Named One of Top 60 Companies for Hispanics by Hispanic Business Magazine

Congratulations to AA for this Award!! It's good to see my company receive this type of awards, as it means all our work is not in vain. FELICIDADES!!

On another note... it was really sickening reading all this comments on Facebook complaining about AA posting these news in Spanish on the page. Comments like "Why is this in spanish in an ENGLISH website..." or "if you're going to get your illegal ass here, at least learn the language". I mean, C'MON!!! What is this?? Redneck America?? I am not illegal, I am a US Citizen (not AMERICAN... American is anybody that lives in North, Central or South AMERICA, it seems "americans" forget this) and I speak Spanish and English fluently. Speaking Spanish DOES NOT make me less "American"... it only makes me bilingual. It's really sad to see such a mentality in today's world. How people can be so closed minded as to think that AA can only cater to English speaking people really eludes me.

Did these people sit down to think that *gasp* a LOT of people that speak other languages travel on AA on a DAILY basis? That Facebook is a multi language website? And that AA has many Spanish speaking fans on their page? That AA has to target people all over the world? Some of our best customers are not even US Citizens!!!

Really, if you want AA to be that kind of airline, then you chose the wrong airline to be a "fan" of.

AA wins bias lawsuit.

American just won on a lawsuit that claimed the Captain from a flight on 2007 was prejudicial when he cancelled a flight. 5 men of Iraqi descent where the ones who filled the lawsuit. I personally believe the Captain acted responsibly and made the right call. As someone who interacts with customers all the time and is in charge of the security of an aircraft, I can safely say AA trains all of us to be aware of everything that can can be considered suspicious, be it done by a white, African-American, Asian or middle eastern person.

The whole article can be found here on USA Today's Today in the Sky blog.

AMR Corporation Signs Letter of Intent With HP to Develop Next-Generation Passenger Service System

AMR Corporation Signs Letter of Intent With HP to Develop Next-Generation Passenger Service System


I'm very excited about this! Finally AA can look to the future and start applying much needed new technologies in regards to running it's business. Really looking forward to this!

Walk in Tokyo (night)

This is a video posted by user ae86initalD on Youtube. This is my favorite city in the world (closely followed by any place in Spain!) and I thought I posted it here.

Been there many many times, and I hope I go back soon!

Boeing Revolutionizes Flight: 787 Dreamliner - Episode 2

Looks great!! Buuut...when will it fly?

Hitler's 787 Delayed

Very funny!!! But I bet this is how airline CEOs are reacting every time Boeing delays the delivery of the 787.

American Continues Its Growth in South Florida

American Continues Its Growth in South Florida

Miami keeps on getting bigger and bigger.

American Airlines Announces Changes to Checked Bag Policy for Travelers to, From or Through Europe and India

American Airlines Announces Changes to Checked Bag Policy for Travelers to, From or Through Europe and India

American Airlines Announces Changes to Checked Bag Policy for Travelers to, From or Through Europe and India

American Airlines Announces Changes to Checked Bag Policy for Travelers to, From or Through Europe and India

American Airlines "Producer" Commercial

The squirrel commercial.

Scene-Stealing Squirrel May Have Invaded American Airlines TV Commercial

Scene-Stealing Squirrel May Have Invaded American Airlines TV Commercial

NYC & Company Joins With American Airlines To Highlight Unprecedented Value In New York City This Fall And Announce Specially Discounted Fares From Fi

NYC & Company Joins With American Airlines To Highlight Unprecedented Value In New York City This Fall And Announce Specially Discounted Fares From Five Large Cities To NYC – Purchase By This Friday

Welcome to my Blog!

Hi, my name is Eliezer Ortiz and I'm a manager at American Airlines.

On this blog I will be adding commentaries from the airline industry as well as any topic I find interesting in today's dynamic airline and business environments. I have a great passion for what is the airline industry and I would like to make this my space to write my comments about it. I will also post comments about the latest happenings in Social Media and Technology, two fields that I also find intriguing, not only for personal reasons, but also as I feel that these are key factors to today's business world.

I would like to make clear that the opinions posted here represent my own personal points of view and opinions and not those of my employer American Airlines.

This is my first professional blog, so please bear with me as I better my blogging skills :)

Best regards,

Eliezer