Ailing Japan Airlines (JAL) will restructure itself under a state-backed corporate turnaround firm while the government mulls a special law to cut the carrier’s high pension payouts, reports said yesterday.
The Japanese government, which will announce a turnaround plan for JAL by the end of this week, will also consider an injection of public funds after the plan is finalized, the Nikkei business daily reported without citing sources.
Local media reported that the state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp of Japan will be in charge of breathing life back into the carrier.
The government launched the quasi-public agency earlier this month to help debt-laden companies that are seen as having the potential to recover, designed to ensure transparency in negotiating debt-relief measures among creditors.
The agency may guarantee loans extended by the Development Bank of Japan and other JAL creditors, or it may lend to the company directly, the Nikkei said.
The carrier needs a bridge loan of about ¥200 billion (US$2.17 billion) by the end of this year, it said. JAL’s shortfall of pension reserves has reached about ¥330 billion, placing pressure on its management, reports said.
The government is also considering creating a new law to enable the carrier to lower its pension payouts to retirees, the Yomiuri daily reported, citing unnamed government sources.
If the law is enacted, debt write-offs by financial institutions and the injection of public funds are to proceed more smoothly, which could accelerate the airline’s rehabilitation, the daily said.
JAL, which is expected to plunge US$5.5 billion into the red this financial year, has also decided to reduce its group workforce by 13,000 by the end of March 2015, 4,000 more than its initial plan, the Kyodo news agency said.
The company, which lost more than US$1 billion in the April-June quarter, is seeking another public bailout to keep operating. JAL has already received three government bailouts since 2001.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
CRITICISM: It is deeply regrettable that China, which is pursuing nuclear weapons, has suppressed Taiwan, which is pursuing peace, a government official said Representative to Japan Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) yesterday accused Beijing of interference after Taiwan’s official delegation to the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony in Japan was assigned seating in the “international non-governmental organizations [NGO]” area. “Taiwan is by no means an international NGO, but a sovereign nation that is active on the international stage,” Lee said. Lee and Chen Ming-chun (陳銘俊), head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Fukuoka, attended the ceremony in Nagasaki yesterday, which marked the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city. That followed Lee’s attendance at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony on Wednesday
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