Shahrukh boards Jet

Donning a new role, Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan will now hold forth in the boardroom of Jet Airways, the country's number one airline.

For Jet Chairman Naresh Goyal, it means adding some glamour to his airline, which, if its results are anything to go by, is flying through turbulence.

Incidentally, Shahrukh will be the third film personality to be associated with Jet Airways, the other two being producer and director Yash Chopra, and lyricist and screenplay writer Javed Akhtar.

With the induction of "King Khan" (Shahrukh's nickname in Bollywood), and former IATA director-general Pierre J Jeanniot, the strength of the Jet board has gone up to 14.

Khan has been in news lately with the release of Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, a film directed by Karan Johar that has been a huge hit, especially in the UK and the US.

The superstar will be back in action once again this year with a remake of the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Don, in which he plays the lead role.

Jet Airways, on the other hand, has been in trouble, with losses of Rs 44.98 crore this quarter, after an aborted attempt to acquire Lucknow-based Air Sahara for Rs 2,300 crore.

The airline has seen over Rs 2,000 crore blocked in a legal tangle following the falling through of the deal. It also came under scrutiny when one of its employees in London was rounded up as a suspect in the failed Heathrow bomb blasts case.

With Shahrukh's induction, the Jet Airways scrip went up by 2.40 per cent to Rs 588.60 on the Bombay Stock Exchange today, against the previous day's closing of Rs 574.80.

Jet's rival Air Sahara has also had an association with film actors. It has Aishwarya Rai and Amitabh Bachchan on its board of directors.

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