Rehab body wants JAL to tie with Delta

The government-backed body in charge of turning around Japan Airlines intends to include in its rehabilitation plan a tieup between JAL and Delta Air Lines and have the struggling carrier switch to the SkyTeam alliance in April 2011, sources said Monday.

Under the plan being readied by the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan, JAL would also have to cut 15,600 jobs, or about 30 percent of its group workforce, by the business year through March 2013, the sources said.

ETIC is calculating that an alliance with Delta, the largest U.S. airline, would lead to a projected annual benefit of ¥17.2 billion, three times larger than what an expanded alliance with American Airlines would offer.