ID :
100156
Fri, 01/15/2010 - 01:54
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/100156
The shortlink copeid
54-year-old JAL subsidiary chief being considered for new COO post
TOKYO, Jan. 14 Kyodo -
A government-backed turnaround body is considering appointing the 54-year-old
president of Japan Air Commuter Co., a subsidiary of Japan Airlines Corp., to
run the struggling airline as the new chief operating officer, sources familiar
with the matter said Thursday.
The Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan and JAL are making
arrangements to appoint Masaru Onishi as second in command to Kyocera Corp.
founder Kazuo Inamori, 77, who has agreed to become the next chief executive
officer.
A final decision will be made following their discussions with Inamori, the
sources said.
Meanwhile, the state-owned Development Bank of Japan and JAL's other key
creditor banks have officially decided to accept a court-backed rehabilitation
plan being drawn up for the struggling carrier, according to other sources.
With the effective go-ahead from the previously reluctant commercial creditor
banks, ETIC is expected to announce its turnaround plan for JAL as early as
next Tuesday, when the carrier will also file for bankruptcy protection under
the Corporate Rehabilitation Law.
Once JAL files for bankruptcy the company's current president and CEO Haruka
Nishimatsu, 62, and other board members are expected to step down. Inamori is
likely to double as chairman while the new COO will double as president, the
sources said.
Onishi has been heading Japan Air Commuter, based in Kagoshima Prefecture,
since last June and has spent his career at JAL in the maintenance as well as
corporate planning divisions.
Other sources have said the key commercial banks -- Mizuho Corporate Bank, the
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. -- are willing
to accept a large-scale waiver of JAL's debt.
But they are continuing to iron out details with ETIC amid calls to enable part
of the waived debt to be swapped for equity so that the banks can recover some
of their losses if JAL returns to profitability.
The state-owned DBJ has also decided to lend the remaining 150 billion yen out
of the 200 billion yen credit line on Friday, ahead of ETIC's decision expected
next week.
Meanwhile, Tokyu Corp., JAL's top shareholder, said Thursday it will incur an
extraordinary loss of 9 billion yen for the current business year through March
from the sale of its entire stake in the airline.
The railway operator, which held a 2.94 percent stake in JAL as of the end of
last September, began selling the shares in October. Tokyu was the top
shareholder in Japan Air System, which merged with JAL in 2002, and became the
biggest shareholder in the merged entity.
JAL's share price rose to 8 yen on Thursday, up 1 yen or about 14 percent,
after shedding nearly 90 percent in the past two trading days on fears the
company will be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Earlier in the day, Tadashi Okamura, chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, said a 100 percent equity reduction, being mulled by the
turnaround body, would ''not necessarily be correct'' and called for debate on
protecting JAL's common shareholders.
He added that a court-led rehabilitation plan being considered would be ''an
easily understandable decision from the users' perspective from the point of
ensuring transparency.''
==Kyodo
A government-backed turnaround body is considering appointing the 54-year-old
president of Japan Air Commuter Co., a subsidiary of Japan Airlines Corp., to
run the struggling airline as the new chief operating officer, sources familiar
with the matter said Thursday.
The Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan and JAL are making
arrangements to appoint Masaru Onishi as second in command to Kyocera Corp.
founder Kazuo Inamori, 77, who has agreed to become the next chief executive
officer.
A final decision will be made following their discussions with Inamori, the
sources said.
Meanwhile, the state-owned Development Bank of Japan and JAL's other key
creditor banks have officially decided to accept a court-backed rehabilitation
plan being drawn up for the struggling carrier, according to other sources.
With the effective go-ahead from the previously reluctant commercial creditor
banks, ETIC is expected to announce its turnaround plan for JAL as early as
next Tuesday, when the carrier will also file for bankruptcy protection under
the Corporate Rehabilitation Law.
Once JAL files for bankruptcy the company's current president and CEO Haruka
Nishimatsu, 62, and other board members are expected to step down. Inamori is
likely to double as chairman while the new COO will double as president, the
sources said.
Onishi has been heading Japan Air Commuter, based in Kagoshima Prefecture,
since last June and has spent his career at JAL in the maintenance as well as
corporate planning divisions.
Other sources have said the key commercial banks -- Mizuho Corporate Bank, the
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. -- are willing
to accept a large-scale waiver of JAL's debt.
But they are continuing to iron out details with ETIC amid calls to enable part
of the waived debt to be swapped for equity so that the banks can recover some
of their losses if JAL returns to profitability.
The state-owned DBJ has also decided to lend the remaining 150 billion yen out
of the 200 billion yen credit line on Friday, ahead of ETIC's decision expected
next week.
Meanwhile, Tokyu Corp., JAL's top shareholder, said Thursday it will incur an
extraordinary loss of 9 billion yen for the current business year through March
from the sale of its entire stake in the airline.
The railway operator, which held a 2.94 percent stake in JAL as of the end of
last September, began selling the shares in October. Tokyu was the top
shareholder in Japan Air System, which merged with JAL in 2002, and became the
biggest shareholder in the merged entity.
JAL's share price rose to 8 yen on Thursday, up 1 yen or about 14 percent,
after shedding nearly 90 percent in the past two trading days on fears the
company will be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Earlier in the day, Tadashi Okamura, chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, said a 100 percent equity reduction, being mulled by the
turnaround body, would ''not necessarily be correct'' and called for debate on
protecting JAL's common shareholders.
He added that a court-led rehabilitation plan being considered would be ''an
easily understandable decision from the users' perspective from the point of
ensuring transparency.''
==Kyodo
