The government said Tuesday it effectively got Japan Airline's creditor banks to agree to let JAL file for bankruptcy and undergo court-led rehabilitation, while Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama indicated the carrier will be delisted.
Japan Airlines Corp. meanwhile said it succeeded in securing approval from two-thirds of its retirees to have their pension benefits slashed. Tuesday was the deadline to gain the OK of two-thirds of some 9,000 retirees to cut their pensions by more than 30 percent. About 67 percent of them had agreed to the pension cuts as of 1 p.m., JAL said.
Hatoyama signaled that the delisting of the airline's stock may be inevitable during the restructuring process, stressing "shareholders bear a certain responsibility."