Editor’s note: Every Sunday, Fortune publishes a favorite story from our archive. Who hasn’t kicked off a summer trip by shuffling through an airport to catch a cramped, delayed flight?Apparently, air travel conditions in 1946 were gruesome too. The airline industry was struggling to keep up with booming demand, and had just discovered the benefits of overbooking. And a plane seat was, “as perishable a commodity as a fried egg or a dry martini.” Indeed.
