How did airlines ticketing work before the internet era?

Question

I am gonna refer to the movie Argo here which was based in Iranian revolution in 1979. In the final moments of the movie during the tickets are bought only during the last moment (I understand the last moment ticket purchase was dramatized for the movie). But was it possible to book a ticket for flight from Iran from United States so quick without the internet?

In: 28

Answer 1

We had telephones, a travel agency would have a direct line to an airline booking office. Airline booking offices would have a literal direct line to the airline’s mainframe. They were called ‘terminals’, and predate the internet. The internet, as we know it, came from ARPANET but there were remote terminals connected to mainframes that were in different areas before that time.