By The Associated Press
Thursday, October 29, 2009
A government-appointed panel recommended that struggling Japan Airlines apply to a corporate turnaround body for access to public rescue funds, Transport Minister Seiji Maehara said Thursday.
Maehara told reporters the five-person task force concluded that if appropriate measures are taken, the airline, known as JAL, could recover.
JAL reported its biggest quarterly net loss of 99 billion yen ($1.1 billion) in the three months to June, and has forecast a net loss of 63 billion yen for the current fiscal year to March 2010.
The airline said it has yet to formally apply to the turnaround body, called the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. Once it does, the corporation would assess the application to determine if emergency funds and bridge loans are indeed necessary.
The airline had earlier submitted its own draft reconstruction plan, which included 6,800 job cuts, or about 14 percent of its workers, but failed to get a pass mark from its main banks and the transport minister.
JAL has reportedly been in talks on financial tie-ups with several top airlines including Delta Air Lines Inc., the world's biggest airline operator, its rival American Airlines Inc. and Air France-KLM, Europe's biggest airline group.
