Japan Airlines to cut 6,800 jobs: president

TOKYO: Japan Airlines is to cut 6,800 jobs and pursue a tie-up with a foreign carrier in an effort to return to profit, its president Haruka Nishimatsu said Tuesday.

"We are talking about a personnel cut of 6,800," he told reporters. "It's a significant figure. The personnel reduction cannot wait."

JAL, which lost more than one billion dollars in the April-June quarter, has already slashed thousands of jobs in recent years.

Nishimatsu said JAL aimed to seal a tie-up with an overseas carrier by mid-October. According to local media, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines' parent company are both interested in taking stakes in the Japanese group.

Japan Airlines Corp's chief executive officer said the loss-making airline was likely to pick Delta Airlines or American Airlines for a tie-up partner, but only if an "open-sky" agreement could be reached. He also told reporters JAL has not begun talks with some tie-up candidates. But when he was later asked if JAL was in talks with multiple candidates, he declined comment.