Japan Airlines, after declaring bankruptcy last month, said on Tuesday it will expand its alliance with American Airlines and its Oneworld partners rather than switch to Delta Air Lines.
Both of the giant US carriers had been competing to partner with ailing JAL, hoping to benefit from a new US-Japan "open skies" deal to expand their reach in the lucrative Asia-Pacific aviation market.
The iconic Japanese carrier ended speculation Tuesday about whether it would stay with American and its 10 partners or defect to Delta, the world's largest airline, and its fellow members in the SkyTeam alliance.
"Japan Airlines today decided to enhance our tie-up with Oneworld member American Airlines in trans-Pacific routes," JAL said in a statement, pledging it was "doing its best for an early corporate revival."
"We will be reborn as an airline that will be chosen by more customers through enhancing tie-ups with Oneworld carriers and current code-share partners ... in addition to the joint businesses with AA."
JAL, after receiving a series of government bail-outs in recent years, last month filed for bankruptcy with $26 billion (R199 billion) in debt in what was one of Japan's biggest ever corporate failures.
The government announced a $3.3 billion injection of public funds and fresh emergency loans of $6.6 billion for Asia's biggest airline.
Now in state-supervised restructuring, JAL plans to slash unprofitable routes and axe more than 15,000 jobs, about a third of its workforce, and sell some assets in order to return to financial health.
Japanese media had recently reported that JAL was considering switching to Delta's SkyTeam alliance but then dismissed the plan as costly, time-consuming and unlikely to be approved by US anti-trust authorities.
JAL said Tuesday that together with American it "will apply to Japanese and US authorities for anti-trust immunity on Pacific routes," with plans to deepen coordination on networks and sales.
In December, Tokyo and Washington reached a liberalisation deal to allow carriers to more flexibly adapt schedules, make code-sharing easier and give US airlines greater access to Tokyo's Narita and Haneda airports.
American on Tuesday immediately hailed the news from JAL.
"We respect that this was an important decision for Japan Airlines and the government of Japan," said its chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey.
"We believe they have made the right choice for JAL's many stakeholders, for Japan's national interests and for consumers travelling between Japan and the United States."
Arpey added that the Oneworld alliance of 11 carriers "offers JAL superior network presence in the markets that matter most."
American earlier offered JAL a lifeline of $1.4 billion in investment, but JAL said Tuesday it had not plans to accept the cash offer.
"The partnership with American is a business tie-up," a JAL official said. "We have no plan to bring in their capital."
Delta in a statement did not comment directly on JAL's decision but said: "With recently announced plans to invest one billion dollars in our product, Delta remains committed to providing a leading option for travel across the Pacific," the airline added. - I-Net Bridge