JetCheck.net

Japan Airlines has decided to maintain its alliance with American Airlines and will end talks with Delta Air Lines, Japanese media reported early Monday.

American and Delta are competing for JAL’s alliance loyalty, as the Japanese carrier flies significant routes both inside Japan and to other parts of Asia. JAL recently declared bankruptcy with 26 billion dollars of debt.

Early reports within the past two months suggested the carrier would chose Delta Air Lines and its SkyTeam alliance over American Airlines and its Oneworld alliance. However that was prior to a “clean-house” in JAL’s management.

The new management team promised to take a new look at the two offers. Early last week, JAL’s new chairman Kazuo Inamori said the carrier would make a quick decision.

JAL would not confirm the reports, and said that no decisions have been made.

Both Delta and American are offering hefty packages to Japan Airlines; American and its Oneworld partners offered a package valued at $2 billion, while Delta offered approximately $1 billion in its package.

Analysts and industry-insiders said the Delta offer looked more appetizing, since SkyTeam has a larger footprint in Asia with Korean Air and China Southern Airlines. American’s Oneworld alliance includes one carrier in Asia:  Hong-Kong based Cathay Pacific Airways.

According to the Nikkei Business Daily, JAL plans to tell Delta as early as this week that it will end alliance negotiations. American Airlines and JAL are expected to apply for anti-trust immunity within this month.

I spent a lot of time writing and covering the JAL story, so this post is duplicated both here and at my blog at the Seattle P-I.  Feel free to share your thoughts / comments.