Japan Airlines spurns Delta Air Lines, opts to keep alliance with American Airlines

Japan Airlines rejects Delta, stays with American

TOKYO — Japan Airlines, wooed for months by Delta Air Lines with promises of cash and a broad global network, spurned the world’s biggest carrier and opted to keep its alliance with American Airlines.

The Japanese carrier said in a statement Tuesday it will strengthen its partnership with American and the two airlines will jointly ask the U.S. and Japanese governments for antitrust immunity on trans-Pacific routes.

The decision brings to an end a fierce tug-of-war over Japan’s ailing flagship carrier, which is restructuring under bankruptcy but offers the U.S. airlines access to lucrative Asian routes.

In an aggressive courtship, Delta and its partners offered JAL $1 billion to leave oneworld. American and its partners said they would give JAL as much as $1.4 billion to stay.

American’s victory seemed improbable just a few weeks ago when Japanese officials, convinced of the long-term revenue benefits, were pushing JAL toward Delta and its SkyTeam partners. But after taking over last month, new JAL chairman Kazuo Inamori insisted that management would re-evaluate both proposals from scratch.

JAL’s loyalties swung back to American in the end, likely because of worries that regulators would not grant antitrust immunity to a Delta-JAL partnership due to competition concerns. Immunity is considered the key to a closer revenue-sharing relationship between U.S. and Asian carriers.

JAL President Masaru Onishi said the Tokyo-based company analyzed the issue “in great detail.”

He said management “firmly believe that the advantages of this development with American Airlines can strongly support JAL at a time when we are striving toward the revival of our business, which we are determined to achieve.”

There is no guarantee American and Japan Airlines will be able to get antitrust immunity, either. But JAL in the end wasn’t willing to take the risk of moving to Delta.

The oneworld alliance includes American, British Airways, Qantas Airways and Cathay Pacific Airways. Members of the SkyTeam alliance include Delta, Air France KLM, Aeroflot and AeroMexico.

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Harry R. Weber reported from Atlanta.