In 1957 the Greek State reached an agreement with shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis to purchase TAE, the national airline. The company was renamed Olympic Airways. Onassis always wanted to be in the cutting edge of the technology, so in 1959 he signed a deal to buy 4 de Havilland Comet 4B that in 1960 was Olympic's first jet aircraft, that entered service. Olympic and BEA created the first codeshare flights. In 1965 Olympic ordered Boeing 707-320 jets; they received the first, bearing the name "City of Athens", in 1966, that was also used for the inauguration of a non-stop route Athens and New York City. In 1968 OA received the first of a fleet of Boeing 727-200 jet aircraft. Under Onassis' leadership the airline gained a reputation for lavish style.
In 1966 the cabin crews were attired in Coco Chanel-designed uniforms and in 1969 they flew in space-age style Pierre Cardin uniforms, passengers ate with golden cutlery and listened to the stylings of a pianist in the first class cabin.
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