According to the media, Skymark made a proposal to JAL about code-sharing and sales cooperation. JAL side also admitted the fact, while nothing has been agreed yet.
Reuters: UPDATE 1-Japan Airlines says low-cost carrier Skymark seeking tie-up talks
Skymark is struggling for survival, facing to troubling negotiation with Airbus. It will be forced to pay a large amount of the penalty fee. In addition, its income is decreasing due to sluggish occupation rate.
My past entry: Skymark abandon to get Airbus A380
If this collaboration is realized, Skymark will gain external trust, as well as improved marketing. Shinichi Nishikubo, the president of Skymark denied being given any capital by JAL. He seems to have a strong intention to keep independent.
However, JAL is not a trustworthy company from the view of the government. It was adopted to an assistance in the form of public funds just several years ago. It is still now supervised by the government. So, it is no doubt that Transport Ministry is wary to accept this plan.
Mainichi: Transport ministry wary as Skymark Airlines seeks tie-up with Japan Airlines
Nishikubo is an ambitious person. The other day, he introduced a sexy costume for flight attendants, leading to some criticism. In personal, I dare not to use a Skymark airplane for domestic travel, as past experience was not so good.
My past entry: Sexual costumes of flight attendants
Nonetheless, his claim that boarding fee would never be reduced if Skymark had not entered the airline industry is persuasive. Japanese airlines were so exclusive in the past. I hope Skymark to recover and remain a good competitor in the future.
By the way, I wonder why Skymark did not choose All Nippon Airways (ANA) as a counterpart. ANA is matching to JAL in financial scale, and not under supervision by the government. No doubt that Skymark had considered about it, I guess they encountered hidden hurdles around this matter.
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