AGIFORS Names Sabre’s Richard Ratliff as Fellow at 62nd Annual Symposium

Yesterday evening in Toulouse, France, the Airline Group of the International Federation of Operational Research Societies (AGIFORS) named Richard Ratliff, Executive Scientist – Sabre Labs, as an AGIFORS Fellow at its 62nd Annual Symposium.

Richard sat down to chat with us about AGIFORS, what it means to be named a Fellow, and his accomplishments over his 30+ year career.

AGIFORS is a professional society dedicated to the advancement and application of Operational Research in the airline industry with members representing more than 500 airlines, airline manufacturers, universities and aviation related companies and associations. An AGIFORS Fellow is reserved for individuals who have demonstrated outstanding and exceptional accomplishments and experience in the application of operations research to air transportation and who made significant contributions to the AGIFORS community over an extended period of time through participation and leadership.

“This award is an amazing accomplishment for Richard and underscores his years of rich contribution and dedication to innovation in the travel industry. We, at Sabre, are honored to celebrate with him and are grateful for the expertise, curiosity and leadership he brings to our team – and the problems we solve – every day,” said Sundar Narasimhan, President – Sabre Labs and Product Strategy.

For more than thirty years, Ratliff has held roles of increasing responsibility in IT at Sabre with a focus on travel retailing and revenue management. Prior to joining research, he was Senior Vice President – Sabre Labs, responsible for applying innovative technology, and he has also served as Sabre’s chief architect responsible for enterprise-wide architectural strategy and key technology partnerships, among other roles. During his career, he has published more than twenty academic papers and collaborated on joint work with universities including Columbia University, Georgia Tech, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, NYU and The University of Wyoming. Ratliff became an AGIFORS member in 1992 and joined the AGIFORS Council in 1999 serving in various leadership positions since.

“Richard’s contributions to AGIFORS and the airline community have – and continue – to be outstanding” said Laurie Garrow, President – AGIFORS. “Richard served on the AGIFORS Council and other leadership positions for more than two decades. During this time, he led several initiatives that have brought great benefit to our members, including spearheading our publication database that captures all presentations the AGIFORS community made since 1970. He has created more than 35 presentations at AGIFORS events and continues to deliver thought-provoking presentations at our events, which a clear testament to his dedication of disseminating new research ideas and approaches to the community.”