[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]
[BUSINESS NEWS]
Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010
Rehab planners: Ax JAL's global routes
Bankruptcy filing, route spinoffs to ANA, Skymark?
Kyodo News
The government and state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Corp. of Japan are considering extensively shrinking the international operations of Japan Airlines Corp. as part of the carrier's rehabilitation plan, which is likely to entail court-backed bankruptcy filing, sources said Friday.
ETIC, tasked with JAL's reconstruction, is aiming to announce a bailout package later this month and will work to persuade JAL's key commercial creditor banks, which have favored an out-of-court reorganization through debt forgiveness, to heed its plan.
The government is making final arrangements to turn around Japan's top airline through the filing of bankruptcy under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law in a bid to ensure transparency in a process that is likely to entail a massive use of public funds.
Several proposals on JAL's rehabilitation plan are being floated, including JAL's withdrawal from international routes that compete with rival All Nippon Airways Co., on the back of concerns that a successful turnaround would not be possible without ditching its loss-making routes.
Under the turnaround plan being compiled, ETIC is considering investing about ¥300 billion and will expand its credit line for JAL to around ¥450 billion, up about ¥50 billion from its initial plan, the sources said.
About ¥100 billion of that credit line to be extended by state-owned Development Bank of Japan may also be guaranteed by ETIC, which can currently raise up to ¥1.6 trillion in government-guaranteed funds.
The plan will aim to reduce about ¥700 billion of JAL's loans by seeking ¥350 billion in debt waivers by financial institutions, including regional banks, and through cuts in corporate pension benefits.
The move to expand the credit line is aimed at ensuring the smooth continuation of JAL's key operations even if it files for bankruptcy.
"We've done our best so far to avoid any interruption to JAL's operations," Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters following a meeting with transport minister Seiji Maehara. "I understand we will continue to make similar efforts in that direction."
Growing fears of bankruptcy, however, sent JAL's share price plunging nearly 12 percent to ¥67 at the close of Tokyo trading Friday.
Following a morning meeting with Cabinet members, including new Finance Minister Naoto Kan, Maehara denied the government has decided on the bankruptcy option, but emphasized that JAL's operations will be protected regardless of which restructuring process is pursued.
"We are making arrangements with each party with emphasis on how to revive JAL by carrying out drastic reform, while making sure its aircraft continue to fly," Maehara, minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, said, adding a failure to fix JAL's problems will lead to more use of taxpayer money.
Even if JAL files for bankruptcy, the government is expected to work with creditor banks to ensure it can finance daily business transactions, including fuel purchases.
The government and banks have reportedly called for a further review of JAL's already announced plan to eliminate 16 of its international routes, which they view as insufficient.
There is also a proposal for JAL to effectively withdraw from international services outside of Asia and rely on potential partner carriers, particularly Delta Air Lines Inc., in maintaining trans-Pacific and other services through code-sharing arrangements where JAL would sell seats under its own airline code on flights operated by other carriers, the sources said.
Transport ministry officials have even suggested transferring part of JAL's Asian routes to Skymark Airlines. Senior Vice Finance Minister Naoki Minezaki and other officials have even proposed having JAL totally spin off its international routes to ANA.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010
Ship collision coverage exposes media bias
By NATSUKO FUKUE
Staff writer
This week's collision in which a Japanese whaling ship chopped off the bow of an antiwhaling boat off Antarctica not only highlights the international tussle over the contentious hunt but has also led to a clash between Japanese and Western media as well.
The environmental group Sea Shepherd said its high-tech antiwhaling boat, the Ady Gil, was deliberately rammed by the Japanese whaling vessel Shonan Maru No. 2, while Japanese officials claim the collision couldn't be avoided because the activists' boat slowed suddenly in its path. The Ady Gil was hit on the port bow.
Six crew members from the Ady Gil were reportedly rescued and Sea Shepherd members said the damaged boat eventually sank Friday while being towed toward a French base in Antarctica. One crewman reportedly suffered broken ribs.
How the incident unfolded depends on whom you ask.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp., the country's public broadcaster, reported the accident with the headline "Whalers hit Sea Shepherd boat" on its Web site. In the article, it quoted a Sea Shepherd spokesman saying the Japanese vessel perpetrated "completely and absolutely a willful act."
The report said the Fisheries Agency in Tokyo is investigating the incident, but did not mention that the agency also claimed the activists slowed suddenly, thus causing the collision.
London-based Reuters published a story from Canberra headlined: "Japan whalers sink boat." Its initial report Wednesday quoted only the activists.
An article titled "Japanese cut in half antiwhaling ship Ady Gil" by the Australian tabloid The Daily Telegraph also failed to mention the Japanese government's contention that the vessel could not avoid the collision.
It also said "the Japanese refused to respond to mayday calls and fled the scene," quoting Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson, who was aboard the Ady Gil.
The Sydney Morning Herald gave space to the Japanese angle. Its article "Japan criticizes NZ over collision" mentioned the Japanese government has lodged a complaint with New Zealand over Wednesday's clash between the protest boat Ady Gil and the Shonan Maru No. 2.
The reporter also mentioned that most Japanese are not interested in the whaling issue as very few eat whale meat regularly.
Japanese newspapers had a different take on the incident, with most calling it a collision between two ships. The Sankei Shimbun ran a front-page story Thursday claiming the Ady Gil had sailed too close to the Japanese vessel and suddenly slowed down, based on statements from the Fisheries Agency.
Although the article stated that Sea Shepherd members said they were suddenly rammed while idling, it also pointed out that the Nisshin Maru, another Japanese whaling boat, was harassed by the activists. The Asahi Shimbun's headline on the story referred to "a collision with an antiwhaling boat," and described the Ady Gil trailing a line from its stern in an attempt to snag the Japanese vessel's rudder and propeller earlier. It said "the Ady Gil did not send out a distress call after the collision," contradicting Sea Shepherd's claim.
The Yomiuri Shimbun's headline was worded more strongly. "Sea Shepherd boat cuts into the path of a patrol vessel," it said, and the article stated "the Japanese vessels repeatedly warned the Ady Gil, but it did not stop approaching."
When it comes to media coverage of international disputes that touch on value-laden cultural issues, truth, like beauty, seems to be in the eye of the beholder.
[BUSINESS NEWS]
Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010
Rehab planners: Ax JAL's global routes
Bankruptcy filing, route spinoffs to ANA, Skymark?
Kyodo News
The government and state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Corp. of Japan are considering extensively shrinking the international operations of Japan Airlines Corp. as part of the carrier's rehabilitation plan, which is likely to entail court-backed bankruptcy filing, sources said Friday.
ETIC, tasked with JAL's reconstruction, is aiming to announce a bailout package later this month and will work to persuade JAL's key commercial creditor banks, which have favored an out-of-court reorganization through debt forgiveness, to heed its plan.
The government is making final arrangements to turn around Japan's top airline through the filing of bankruptcy under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law in a bid to ensure transparency in a process that is likely to entail a massive use of public funds.
Several proposals on JAL's rehabilitation plan are being floated, including JAL's withdrawal from international routes that compete with rival All Nippon Airways Co., on the back of concerns that a successful turnaround would not be possible without ditching its loss-making routes.
Under the turnaround plan being compiled, ETIC is considering investing about ¥300 billion and will expand its credit line for JAL to around ¥450 billion, up about ¥50 billion from its initial plan, the sources said.
About ¥100 billion of that credit line to be extended by state-owned Development Bank of Japan may also be guaranteed by ETIC, which can currently raise up to ¥1.6 trillion in government-guaranteed funds.
The plan will aim to reduce about ¥700 billion of JAL's loans by seeking ¥350 billion in debt waivers by financial institutions, including regional banks, and through cuts in corporate pension benefits.
The move to expand the credit line is aimed at ensuring the smooth continuation of JAL's key operations even if it files for bankruptcy.
"We've done our best so far to avoid any interruption to JAL's operations," Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters following a meeting with transport minister Seiji Maehara. "I understand we will continue to make similar efforts in that direction."
Growing fears of bankruptcy, however, sent JAL's share price plunging nearly 12 percent to ¥67 at the close of Tokyo trading Friday.
Following a morning meeting with Cabinet members, including new Finance Minister Naoto Kan, Maehara denied the government has decided on the bankruptcy option, but emphasized that JAL's operations will be protected regardless of which restructuring process is pursued.
"We are making arrangements with each party with emphasis on how to revive JAL by carrying out drastic reform, while making sure its aircraft continue to fly," Maehara, minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, said, adding a failure to fix JAL's problems will lead to more use of taxpayer money.
Even if JAL files for bankruptcy, the government is expected to work with creditor banks to ensure it can finance daily business transactions, including fuel purchases.
The government and banks have reportedly called for a further review of JAL's already announced plan to eliminate 16 of its international routes, which they view as insufficient.
There is also a proposal for JAL to effectively withdraw from international services outside of Asia and rely on potential partner carriers, particularly Delta Air Lines Inc., in maintaining trans-Pacific and other services through code-sharing arrangements where JAL would sell seats under its own airline code on flights operated by other carriers, the sources said.
Transport ministry officials have even suggested transferring part of JAL's Asian routes to Skymark Airlines. Senior Vice Finance Minister Naoki Minezaki and other officials have even proposed having JAL totally spin off its international routes to ANA.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010
Ship collision coverage exposes media bias
By NATSUKO FUKUE
Staff writer
This week's collision in which a Japanese whaling ship chopped off the bow of an antiwhaling boat off Antarctica not only highlights the international tussle over the contentious hunt but has also led to a clash between Japanese and Western media as well.
The environmental group Sea Shepherd said its high-tech antiwhaling boat, the Ady Gil, was deliberately rammed by the Japanese whaling vessel Shonan Maru No. 2, while Japanese officials claim the collision couldn't be avoided because the activists' boat slowed suddenly in its path. The Ady Gil was hit on the port bow.
Six crew members from the Ady Gil were reportedly rescued and Sea Shepherd members said the damaged boat eventually sank Friday while being towed toward a French base in Antarctica. One crewman reportedly suffered broken ribs.
How the incident unfolded depends on whom you ask.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp., the country's public broadcaster, reported the accident with the headline "Whalers hit Sea Shepherd boat" on its Web site. In the article, it quoted a Sea Shepherd spokesman saying the Japanese vessel perpetrated "completely and absolutely a willful act."
The report said the Fisheries Agency in Tokyo is investigating the incident, but did not mention that the agency also claimed the activists slowed suddenly, thus causing the collision.
London-based Reuters published a story from Canberra headlined: "Japan whalers sink boat." Its initial report Wednesday quoted only the activists.
An article titled "Japanese cut in half antiwhaling ship Ady Gil" by the Australian tabloid The Daily Telegraph also failed to mention the Japanese government's contention that the vessel could not avoid the collision.
It also said "the Japanese refused to respond to mayday calls and fled the scene," quoting Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson, who was aboard the Ady Gil.
The Sydney Morning Herald gave space to the Japanese angle. Its article "Japan criticizes NZ over collision" mentioned the Japanese government has lodged a complaint with New Zealand over Wednesday's clash between the protest boat Ady Gil and the Shonan Maru No. 2.
The reporter also mentioned that most Japanese are not interested in the whaling issue as very few eat whale meat regularly.
Japanese newspapers had a different take on the incident, with most calling it a collision between two ships. The Sankei Shimbun ran a front-page story Thursday claiming the Ady Gil had sailed too close to the Japanese vessel and suddenly slowed down, based on statements from the Fisheries Agency.
Although the article stated that Sea Shepherd members said they were suddenly rammed while idling, it also pointed out that the Nisshin Maru, another Japanese whaling boat, was harassed by the activists. The Asahi Shimbun's headline on the story referred to "a collision with an antiwhaling boat," and described the Ady Gil trailing a line from its stern in an attempt to snag the Japanese vessel's rudder and propeller earlier. It said "the Ady Gil did not send out a distress call after the collision," contradicting Sea Shepherd's claim.
The Yomiuri Shimbun's headline was worded more strongly. "Sea Shepherd boat cuts into the path of a patrol vessel," it said, and the article stated "the Japanese vessels repeatedly warned the Ady Gil, but it did not stop approaching."
When it comes to media coverage of international disputes that touch on value-laden cultural issues, truth, like beauty, seems to be in the eye of the beholder.
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