Japan Airlines is said to be aiming to cut up 6,800 jobs, and conclude a tie-up with a single partner by the middle of October.
The comments were reportedly made by JAL CEO Haruka Nishimatsu after a meeting with an independent panel that is discussing the carrier's long awaited restructuring.
Reports cite Nishimatu as saying the carrier was likely to pick Delta Air Lines or American Airlines as a partner, but only if Japan and the USA can reach an 'open skies' agreement.
The two countries are in talks to revise their decades-old air services agreement.
Media reports have named the two US majors, as well as Air France-KLM, as potential partners.
Nishimatsu is also reported as giving a figure of 6,800 job cuts and saying that restructuring will entail "drastic" changes to the carrier's route structure.
In early August JAL said that, in the three months ending 30 June, it posted a net loss of ¥99 billion ($1.1 billion) compared with a net loss of ¥3.4 billion in the corresponding period last year.
JAL's operating statistics showed total passenger numbers fell 15% year-on-year in the fiscal quarter, to 9.5 million from 11.2 million.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
