JAL Pulls Back. Sees Salvation At Home

JAL seems to have gone cold on its need for external support and has slowed the discussions with the OneWorld and the Skyteam opposing teams.

After a certain dance between itself and the new government, it seems that one of them blinked and while the new Japanese government is not promising to fork over large amounts of cash - it does seem that the local financial markets will once again shore up the ailing carrier's balance sheet and cash position, at least for the short term. With the US carriers having taken advantage of the easing credit markets to improve their current positions, the pressure for JAL to do the same thing is becoming acute.

JAL has clearly listened and is starting to cut into the fat. It is pairing routes and frequencies. As the one of the largest 747-400 operators - it can clearly save a lot of money by parking some of those and replacing them with large twins. But the biggest issues remain that the culture within the airline remains a critical obstacle to change and the speed of change.

For that only a new focused management team can actually make the changes necessary for the long term survival of this legacy monolith.

Cheers