Rejecting proposals from American's U. S. rival Delta Air Lines Inc., Japan Airlines Corp. on Tuesday have indicated its willingness for continuing its already existing alliance with AMR Corp.'s American Airlines. This decision was announced at a briefing at Japan's Transport Ministry, ending up the struggle in which both American and Delta offered more than $1 billion in capital and incentives to JAL.

Daiji Nagai, Vice President of JAL's Corporate Planning Division stated, "In terms of long-term growth prospects, an alliance with Delta would have offered lots of business opportunities as it has a wide network in Europe. But we decided to prioritize our immediate goal, which is to do whatever it takes to restructure this company in the first year; so we avoided the risk that migration posed of losing our current customers. Our president (Masaru) Onishi told Delta about our decision earlier in the day".

For greater harmonization on routes and ticket prices, as well as revenue sharing, both U. S. carriers have been offering financial help to JAL which is Asia's second-largest carrier in terms of annual customers and destinations.

Gerard Arpey, American's Chairman and CEO said, "We respect that this was an important decision for Japan Airlines and the government of Japan, and we believe they have made the right choice for JAL's many stakeholders, for Japan's national interests and for consumers traveling between Japan and the United States".