JAL to Pick American over Delta as Reconstruction Parter

Tokyo, Feb. 8 (Jiji Press)--Japan Airlines <9205> has decided to
beef up its alliance with American Airlines instead of newly tying up with
another U.S. carrier, Delta Air Lines, informed sources said Monday.
Kazuo Inamori, chairman of the Japanese airline now under court-led
rehabilitation, prefers American because the two airlines belong to the same
Oneworld alliance, the sources said.
Inamori judged enhancing the existing partnership with American has
fewer risks than moving to Delta's SkyTeam camp, the sources noted.
According to the sources, JAL, which filed for bankruptcy
protection last month, will terminate alliance talks with Delta and
officially decide to boost its partnership with American early this week.
JAL's new management team, which will be fully staffed Monday,
plans to hold talks with American toward applying for U.S. antitrust
immunity, hoping to launch joint flight operations between Japan and the
United States in autumn.
The struggling Japanese carrier's former management and
government-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan were
leaning toward the idea of strengthening services on U.S. and European
routes through a capital and business tie-up with Delta, the world's largest
airline.
But JAL's Chairman Inamori and President Masaru Onishi told their
joint press conference after taking respective offices Feb. 1 that they
would start over considering who will be the best partner for their company.
At an internal meeting held after the news conference, Inamori
clarified his opposition to JAL's switch to the Delta-led SkyTeam alliance,
the sources said.
He apparently believes the shift to the Dalta camp will cause a
near-term revenue drop and prevent JAL's quick reconstruction, they said.
Officials of ETIC said the business turnaround body, now a
court-designated trustee for JAL, will accept any decision by the airline's
new management on the selection of a partner.