To the shock of many experts, it appears that Japan Airlines has chose to maintain its business relationship with American Airlines and the Oneworld Alliance that it is already a part of. The company will be continuing this relationship as soon as it emerges out of its state-sponsored restructuring plan. However, this does mean that it has chosen to refuse a tie up offer that was put out there by Delta Airlines and the SkyTeam Alliance.

This announcement comes as Japan Airlines files for bankruptcy protection and is undergoing a government sponsored restructuring plan. This move is seen as a very big boost for American Airlines, who had been in a very intense battle with its arch rival Delta over who could win over Japan Airlines. This was a bidding war that was said to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

American Airlines will now be able to maintain its principal Asian partner, as well as build more links in Japan. This is good news for American Airlines since the United States and Japan have now liberalized air traffic between their two countries. This new open skies deal will remove many of the legislative hurdles to operate flights between the United States and Japan, allowing airlines from both countries to have a wider range of destinations and routes to choose from.

An alliance between Japan Airlines and Delta had been favored by Japan’s transport ministry as the Atlanta-based airline already has hubs in Tokyo and Seoul, unlike the more Atlantic-focused American Airlines. Thus, this move is kind of a shock to the airline industry but a very noble move by Japan Airlines, who already had a partnership with American Airlines.