As I was walking through London today lamenting the disappearance of all those airline ticketing shops where you used to see those big planes in the windows, (which by the way put dreams in a boy's head that he wanted to see the world someday), I wondered how before the advent of computer systems did the airlines manage to keep track of inventory. I mean, when you went in to buy a ticket, how did the agencies know all of the schedules, manage to get you booked onto a flight that wasn't sold out, etc? I wouldn't think it could happen quickly or lead to a very flexible system when changes were needed.

Just wondering