Japan Air Reportedly Favors American Pact
TOKYO (
) --
Japan Airlines
is leaning toward staying in its alliance with
AMR's
(AMR)
American Airlines rather than joining an alliance with
Delta Air Lines
(DAL) - Get Report
, reports say.
American's bid to keep JAL in its Oneworld alliance has gained traction at least in part because of growing concerns a JAL-Delta partnership would trigger antitrust concerns in the U.S., the
Wall Street Journal
reports, citing people close to the matter.
Japan Airlines officials have decided that switching alliances is too risky and could hurt the company's turnaround efforts, reports Japan's
Asahi
newspaper.
JAL also is expected to break off talks with Delta about joining its SkyTeam alliance,
Asahi
says.
The
Journal
reports no final decision has been made. An official decision on a partner is expected to be made this week or early next week, according to Masaru Onishi, the new president of JAL, Asia's largest carrier.
The Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan, which is leading the restructuring of Japan Airlines, also favors an agreement with American, the
Journal
reports, citing a person close to the talks.
Delta said in a statement to the
Journal
that it "continues to be in discussion" with Japan Airlines and that it's "confident" a Delta-JAL joint venture would gain antitrust approval.
American, echoing Delta, said it believes its proposal would be the "best outcome'' for Japan Airlines and its consumers, the
Journal
reports.
-- Written by Joseph Woelfel in New York.
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