Airlines worldwide will lose a collective $2.8 billion in 2010, half the previous forecast, as emerging markets lead a rebound in traffic, the International Air Transport Association said.

The loss estimate was cut from $5.6 billion after a “much stronger recovery in demand” at the end of 2009 that continued into the first months of this year, the Geneva, Switzerland- based association said in a statement today.
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American Airlines is upping the ante for an alliance with Japan Airlines in an effort to outbid Delta and gain access to JAL’s trans-Pacific routes.

American Chief Executive Gerard Arpey told JAL Wednesday that his company will not compete with the financially struggling Japanese carrier for connecting passengers to other points in Asia if it remains American’s partner in the Oneworld alliance, according to The Associated Press. American’s exclusivity offer would involve American feeding traffic between the U.S. and Japan but not elsewhere in Asia.
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Japan’s transport ministry expects the U.S. government to rule on two expected airline antitrust applications by October 2010 before enacting a landmark new aviation deal.

The ministry expects the applications involving Japanese members of two global airline alliances to be filed by mid-February, and called on its counterpart “to give expeditious consideration,” according to a letter sent to the U.S. State Department.
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American Airlines said preparations for an investment in Japan Airlines Corp. are at an advanced stage after Delta Air Lines Inc. announced a package of incentives to lure the Asian carrier into a new alliance.

Japan Air, as the airline is known, would face a regulatory risk in leaving American’s Oneworld group and joining Delta’s SkyTeam, Theo Panagiotoulias, American’s Pacific director, told reporters today in Tokyo.
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Delta Air Lines Inc. and its SkyTeam alliance partners offered as much as $1 billion in incentives to lure Japan Airlines Corp. away from the Oneworld group led by American Airlines.

SkyTeam airlines may invest $500 million in Japan Air, and Delta would supply $200 million in financing and $300 million to cover lost sales, Delta President Edward Bastian said today. American’s bid may consist of $1 billion from private-equity firm TPG Inc. and $300 million from the airline.
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