Japan Airlines has lost money in 3 of the last four years and has been bailed out by the Japanese government three times in the last ten. Absent another government solution, JAL is left with the possibility of ceding partial ownership to a foreign carrier, and industry behemoths are chomping at the bit.

If you ever want to see an airline chess match in action, look to Japan where the sounds of distress coming from Japan Airlines are being answered by several industry players who seem to be in the game simply to keep the others from winning. In September, a consortium was formed between British Airways, Qantas and American Airlines in order to fend off a bid from Delta Air Lines for a stake in JAL. The list of suspected bids for a piece of Japan's largest carrier also includes the likes of Air France-KLM and Korean Airlines. Few if any of these airlines are in a financial position to take such a risk, but why then are they making such gestures? It seems that the rush to make offers stems from the emergence of airline alliances as the most likely manifestation of future competition, and these airlines are looking to defend or bolster their respective partnerships.

American, Qantas and British Airways are partners with Japan Airlines in the Oneworld Alliance. For the former three, JAL represents a crucial link to Asia that would be extremely curtailed by the airline's departure from Oneworld. That's exactly what Delta Air Lines hopes to achieve by entering the bid for Japan Airlines. If Delta can shut off a huge part of Oneworld's link to Asia, it, along with its SkyTeam partners can take direct aim at the Star Alliance, currently the largest. Star currently includes Asian carriers ANA, Singapore Airlines and Asiana Airlines, among others, plus United Airlines which collectively offer a wide variety of flights to and throughout Asia. This alliance would have the least interest in Japan Airlines whereas SkyTeam, with its extensive routes to Asia provided by Delta (after having absorbed Northwest Airlines), could deliver quite a blow to Oneworld. American Airlines would have to put up large amounts of money just to defend what it already has. A stake in Japan Airlines is risky and the airline is in no position to invest such large quantities of capital just to keep things the way they are. Facing the threat of being cut off from key Asian markets, do they have a choice? Perhaps.

A recent report by the BBC states that Japan Airlines may be put under the supervision of a state-supported turnaround entity. According to the report, the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan buys the debt of companies in trouble and sends in turnaround specialists to help them restructure their operations. As JAL threatens to cut over 6,000 jobs, the airline's options may be running out. Previous restructuring plans have failed and all the chess pieces vying for a minority stake in the struggling airline may in the end be just a game to call the others' bluffs. In the end, JAL may find this latest solution their only viable option.