Great progress was made in the late 1970s and 1980, when Grötschel, Padberg, Rinaldi and others managed to exactly solve instances with up to 2,392 cities, using cutting planes and branch and bound.
Veliki napredak je napravljen krajem 1970-ih i 1980-ih, kada Grotschel, Padberg, Rinaldi i drugi uspeli da tačno reši slučajeve u gradovima do 2392, korišćenjem najnovije avione i filijala-i-vezan.