Land of the Sinking Sun?

Shares in Japan Airlines tumbled as much as 11% on Tuesday, touching a new low of 85 yen.

The slide was prompted by media reports that the carrier could be forced to file for bankruptcy.

Last week, Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said the state would not give the airline any more loans.

Japan Airlines has rival offers from American Airlines and Delta to buy a stake in the firm. A bankruptcy filing would make a deal more complicated.

More here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8433384.stm

Sounds like the carrier is certainly in trouble. The report goes on to say it is a staggering £10bn in debt and has been bailed out 4 times by the government since 2001! Surely after the first or second time, some major re-structuring should have been done?!

They do have a large fleet. As an armchair observer I wonder if they need all the aircraft or aren’t using the right type on the right routes. Sounds like an obvious area to point out, but if they’ve been bailed out 4 times, maybe it’s not to them!