A recent report by a local newspaper has speculated that the troubled Japan Airlines Corp. will be maintaining its partnership with American Airlines in the Oneworld alliance, while ending talks with Delta Airlines and rival SkyTeam group.

The two American carriers have been trying to court JAL for many months now, with attractive offers of financial help and close co-operation on international routes, with the aim of gaining a foothold in the lucrative Asian market and a piece of JAL's spawning network across Asian nations, which would benefit more from the expansion of Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

Before the carrier officially filed for bankruptcy last month, JAL had been leaning towards partnering with Delta, in addition to appointing some new management under the help of state-backed fund, the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp of Japan.

Now, however the newly appointed Chief Executive of the carrier, Kazuo Inamori, and ETIC officials seem to have decided that shifting alliances could be a dangerous move, and might just hamper the airline's quick turnaround. An official announcement will most probably be made during this week.