Japan Airlines was relisted on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Sep. 19 as it has succeeded in strongly improving its business performance during the past two years and seven months of rehabilitation. This is only the first step to full recovery for the airline. JAL achieved its comeback with massive government support. Given harsh competition, JAL needs to make every effort to survive and grow on its own.
JAL applied for the Corporate Rehabilitation Law, seeking court protection, in January 2010 and was delisted the next month. The Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan (ETIC), jointly set up in 2009 by the government and the private sector, saved the carrier.
On the day of JAL's relisting, ETIC, which sank ¥350 billion in JAL, sold all its shares in the airline and earned ¥648.3 billion. The balance will be added to state coffers. In the business year to the end of March 2012, JAL achieved a record consolidated net profit of ¥186.6 billion, about 6.6 times that of JAL's rival All Nippon Airways. JAL's combined operating profits are more than twice ANA's.