AMERICAN AIRLINES CHIEF WANTS JAL DEAL

       The CEO of American Airlines said on Monday that Japan Airlines would be taking a risk and suffer financially if it breaks ties with American and joins an alliance with Delta Air Lines.
       Gerard Arpey said that American and its partner airlines "produce hundreds of millions of dollars of value for JAL" and want to strengthen ties.
       Arpey made the comments in Mexico City at a meeting of the oneworld alliance of global airlines, which includes American, British Airways and JAL. Delta belongs to another alliance, SkyTeam, and is trying to lure JAL away from oneworld.
       American and Delta have battled over JAL for several weeks, largely in private. Arpey's remarks elevated the fight by marking the most detailed public comments by either CEO.
       Last month, Delta CEO Richard Anderson declined to answer questions about JAL. But he said Delta and SkyTeam partner Air France-KLM have shown an ability to develop successful alliances with their trans-Atlantic business.
       The stakes in the JAL battle are high for American, a unit of AMR. Arpey told his own executives last month that if JaL jumps to Delta's team, "that would certainly be very bad for us".
       Both AMR and Delta are seeking a minority stake in JAL, which has been looking for an injection of captial and help from the government.
       Delta and American covet JAL because of its extensive routes in Japan and China. By having JAL as a partner since the mid-1990s, American has been able to sell those routes to its own customers and share in the revenue. American and JAL offer reciprocal frequent-flier privileges to each other's passengers.
       Arpey has said the partnership with JAL allows American to win customers away from United and Delta's Northwest Airlines unit, both of which fly from the US to Tokyo.