Japan Airlines Corp, Asia's leading airline, is expected to file for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, becoming one of the Japan’s biggest-ever corporate failures.

Under the state-backed restructuring plan, JAL will shed as many as 15,700 jobs, which accounts for a third of its total work force. In addition, it will close around 34 unprofitable domestic as well as international routes.

It may be noted here that JAL, which is burdened with a heavy debt of $16 billion, has already been bailed out by the government three times during the last 10-year period.

The state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp will support JAL with around 300 billion yen in capital plus creditors will be asked to let off loans worth around 350 billion yen.

JAL has lost over 90 per cent of its market capitalization since the start of this year. Shares in JAL were trading at 4 yen, at a loss of 1 yen. Under the plan, shares in carrier will be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

According to an analyst, All Nippon Airways Co could become Japan's new flagship carrier following JAL’s filing for bankruptcy.

Electronics manufacturer Kyocera’s founder Kazuo Inamori has been appointed as JAL’s new CEO to supervise its restructuring.