American and Delta not interested in Skymark Airlines tie-up
(Changes headline, adds Delta comment, background, byline)
By Jeffrey Dastin
Feb 23 (Reuters) - American Airlines Group Inc and Delta Air Lines Inc have no plans to rescue Japan's bankrupt Skymark Airlines Inc, the two companies said separately on Monday following a media report on their alleged interest in the budget carrier.
"We have studied the current environment surrounding Skymark and have determined not to participate in that airline's restructuring needs at this time," American spokesman Josh Freed said in an email. "We are partnered with the premier airline in that region today, Japan Airlines."
Delta spokesman Anthony Black said in a telephone interview, "We have no plans to invest in or partner with Skymark."
Nikkei Asian Review reported earlier that American intended to send executives to Japan to discuss investment in Skymark, and that a tie-up interested Delta, which lacks a Japanese partner in its SkyTeam alliance.
The report came as Japan's biggest carrier, ANA Holdings Inc , and a subsidiary of Malaysia's AirAsia Bhd expressed interest in Skymark. Meanwhile, U.S. carriers are increasingly competing for passengers between East Asia and the United States.
Skymark holds landing slots at Tokyo's Haneda Airport that many airlines consider valuable. An agreement between Japan and the United States limits U.S. carriers to four slots there.
The U.S. Department of Transportation currently is reviewing whether to award one of Delta's Haneda slots to American or Hawaiian Airlines to increase consumers' choices. These airlines say passengers will prefer Haneda to Narita International Airport because it is closer to downtown Tokyo.
Skymark sought protection from creditors last month, saying a weak yen and a dispute with jet maker Airbus Group fueled its financial problems. It had liabilities of 71.09 billion yen ($596.24 million).
The airline has agreed on a nine billion-yen sponsorship deal with Tokyo-based investment fund Integral Corp to keep its business running and has looked for co-sponsors to help turn the business around. (Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin and by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Diane Craft)
