TOKYO - Japan Airlines has decided to maintain its current tie-up with American Airlines and will end talks with Delta Air Lines, local media reported on Monday.

American Airlines and Delta Air Lines are competing to take a stake in JAL despite its bankruptcy filing last month with US$26 billion (S$37 billion) of debt - one of Japan's biggest ever corporate failures.

Japanese media had previously said JAL planned to switch to Delta and its SkyTeam airline alliance from American Airlines' Oneworld alliance as part of its recovery plan.

But JAL's new management and the government-run Enterprise Turnaround Initiative of Japan, which supervises the airline's revival, have concluded that the switch would be costly and risky for JAL, the Asahi Shimbun and other news reports said.

JAL is expected to announce the decision this week, the reports said. Immediate confirmation of the reports was not available.

Earlier this month, Japan Airlines' new management team said it was starting from scratch in its talks with foreign rivals about a possible tie-up, part of efforts to revive the stricken carrier.

Both US carriers are offering financial assistance to JAL - which is slashing more than 15,600 jobs and axing unprofitable routes - in return for cooperation in areas such as joint flight operations through code-sharing.