Japan Airlines, a once-proud flagship carrier now crippled by $16 billion in liabilities, may soon file for bankruptcy protection as part of a state-led turnaround in one of the largest corporate failures in the Japanese history.
Government officials said a final decision had not yet been reached on the fate of JAL, Asia’s largest airline.
But they suggested that the airline, already bailed out by the state four times, would likely undergo some form of court-led restructuring similar to a Chapter 11 filing in the United States, a bold step for the new government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
“This problem was long postponed by the Liberal Democratic Party,” the transport minister, Seiji Maehara, told reporters on Friday, referring to the previous administration. “With a change in government, we will find the ultimate solution,” he said.
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