Japan Airlines Corp filed for bankruptcy protection in Tokyo and New York today, citing terrorism, SARS and war in Iraq as contributing causes to its demise.

The airline, which has posted annual losses in the billions for the past ten years and has been bailed out by the Japanese government four times, owes more than US$25 billion. It will have to cut more than fifteen thousand jobs to help it survive. Asia's largest airline by revenue, JAL will continue to fly as it restructures, with US$11 billion in support from the government's Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp of Japan (ETIC).

As part of the restructuring, thirty-one international and domestic routes will be cut. It will also replace all of its B747-400 jets and MD90s with smaller, more fuel-efficient ones, to be provided by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Observers say that the airline needs to refocus on core business and improve efficiency in order to return to profitability.

The airline's debt makes it the fourth largest bankruptcy ever in Japan. Shares of JAL have fallen more than 90% since the New Year and will be delisted from the Tokyo stock exchange on Feb. 20, wiping out investors in the company. The company's market value has dwindled to barely US$150 million.

JAL, founded in 1951, flies 1,100 flights a day to 220 airports in 35 countries and 59 domestic routes.

NOTICE - All Rights Reserved Except as Stipulated Below. PHOTOS MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM. Our reporters and journalists break or report stories and their sources and information are protected by the doctrine of free press as expressed in the First Ammendment, Reporters Privilege Statues, and also the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.This article if a feature or opinion piece is the opinion of the author or reports the news and opinions of others and is NOT INTENDED TO OFFER ADVICE. FOR OPINION STORIES: This story/article/ feature may be an opinion piece — and should be treated accordingly — or reporting on the opinions of others, and should never be considered as a sole source of information or as a suggestion, instruction or prescription. FOR CRIME STORIES: always read the word "allegedly" in any story mentioning "suspects" or "persons of interest". FOR BUSINESSS AND MONEY STORIES: For money/ trade and exchange stories, this magazine and its writers accept no responsibility for accuracy — always check with other sources for important decisions. FOR HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE STORIES: In the case of food/health stories, these facts have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Information stated here should be NOT be considered as medical, health, psychological or behavior advice. All information in this story and on this site is provided for educational or entertainment purposes ONLY. Always seek the advice of experts, including doctors for medical opinions. Only a licensed medical doctor can offer medical advice. FOR EXPERT, ADVICE OR HOW-TO STORIES: Legal advice or other expert advice is best referred to experts in their respective fields. NO RESPONSIBILITY: The publishers and editors, authors, researchers, employees, heirs and assigns accept no responsibility whatsoever for any advice, facts, opinions in this story, nor for resulting actions of readers of this information. ALL READERS ACCEPT THAT THIS INFORMATION IS PRESENTED ONLY AS NEWS, EDUCATION, ENTERTAINMENT OR OPINION/INFORMATION AND AGREE IN READING THIS STORY OR THIS SITE THAT USE OF THIS INFORMATION IS SOLELY THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE READER. Copyright by the byline author unless otherwise indicated. EXCERPTS from other magazines or media sources are posted under fair use doctrine, on the basis of no more than 5-10% of content with links and credit to source for the complete story. These are posted in the interest of providing interesting links (description as excerpt) with navigation to the source. Likewise, we encourage our many subscribers to excerpt with credit and links to our e-zines, up to 10% of content. To use more content than 10%, please contact the e-zine for permission. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED except as stipulated herein. IMPORTANT: this web content also includes a forum and comments function, which allows for posting from users not employed by this publication. We accept no responsibility for posts, content, language or accuracy of posts from outside parties but will attempt to correct any inaccuracies reported within the context of free speach. Where possible, spam, lewd or obscene comments WILL BE REMOVED.

Persona Corp. and Blogertize publishes several webzines, magazines, e-zines for news, entertainment and information, but cautions readers to read the NOTICE above:

• Films and Books