Shah Rukh joins Jet Airways board

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

For Jet Airways 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, Shah Rukh 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' (Shah Rukh'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 hit, especially in the United Kingdom and the United States.

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 (Rs 449.8 million) this quarter, after an aborted attempt to acquire Lucknow-based Air Sahara for Rs 2,300 crore (Rs 23 billion) .

The airline has seen over Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) 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 Shah Rukh's induction, the Jet Airways scrip went up by 2.40 per cent to Rs 588.60 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday, against the previous 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.

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines has model and item girl Yana Gupta as a brand ambassador.