Money-losing Japan Airlines Corp (JAL) is considering raising ¥250 billion (US$2.8 billion) from financial institutions and others including Delta Air Lines Inc under a major restructuring plan, a newspaper said yesterday.
JAL is to announce its management improvement plan by the end of the month.
Under the plan, JAL hopes to raise ¥250 billion, Japan’s Nikkei Shimbun said yesterday, citing no sources. JAL will seek capital from banks, investment funds and others including Delta, the world’s biggest airline operator, the paper said.
Officials at JAL could not be reached for comment yesterday. The company said in a statement on Saturday it was aware of reports on tie-ups between JAL and foreign carriers, but said nothing has been decided.
Hit by plummeting demand amid a slumping global economy and swine flu fears, JAL incurred its biggest-ever quarterly net loss of ¥99 billion in the three months to June.
Delta is in preliminary discussions about buying a stake in JAL for about US$300 million. The U.S. airline giant could become a leading shareholder in JAL and get coveted access to Haneda Airport, close to Tokyo’s business district, a person briefed on the Delta situation said.
The Nikkei said Delta has offered to invest as much as ¥50 billion, which would give it a 11.2 percent stake in JAL.
Delta’s rival American Airlines is also negotiating a possible investment, according to a person familiar with the talks. American would like to form a joint business venture with JAL, in which the two carriers would seek antitrust immunity to work closely in setting schedules and prices for service around the world, according to the person, who spoke on Saturday on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the talks.
JAL is also in talks with Air France-KLM, Europe’s biggest airline group, over a capital tie-up, Japan’s top-selling newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun, reported Saturday.
JAL has forecast a net loss of ¥63 billion for the fiscal year to next March and plans to cut the number of flights and slash costs by ¥53 billion during the current fiscal year and another ¥100 billion in the next fiscal year.
The Nikkei said JAL would cut 4,700 jobs equal to about 10 percent of its group work force under the restructuring plan. The airline will also sell subsidiaries and assets to raise capital.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
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