Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- American Airlines may team with TPG Inc., the private-equity firm founded by David Bonderman, to invest at least $300 million in alliance partner Japan Airlines Corp., a person familiar with the plan said.

That sum would be competitive with a proposed investment in Japan Air by Delta Air Lines Inc., said the person, who declined to be identified because the talks aren’t public. Delta, a member of the SkyTeam group of airlines, wants to lure money- losing Japan Air from American’s Oneworld group.

TPG would bring experience in working with troubled carriers, including helping return bankrupt Continental Airlines Inc. to profit in the early 1990s. Japan Air, also known as JAL, is due to receive bridging loans from the Development Bank of Japan while a state-affiliated fund considers providing financial assistance.

“This is a marriage that may work,” said Jay Sorensen, president of consultant IdeaWorks in Shorewood, Wisconsin. American “has a clearly proven track record for international operations and knows its way around an alliance, and then you have people who are going to provide the financing.”

JAL, based in Tokyo, is seeking government support and new investors as it heads for a fourth annual loss in the past five years. American and Delta want access to JAL’s route network in its home country, the world’s second-largest economy, and China, Asia’s biggest air-traffic market.

TPG’s Interest

“TPG could potentially help,” American Chief Financial Officer Tom Horton said yesterday in Tokyo as he announced the partnership. He didn’t say how big the potential investment would be.

TPG would seek an equity stake in JAL in exchange for a cash infusion, said a second person familiar with the talks. The firm needs approval from the Japanese government to take a formal role in any negotiations, the person said.

Jochen Legewie, a spokesman for TPG, and Charley Wilson, a spokesman for AMR Corp.’s American, declined to comment. TPG and American are both based in Fort Worth, Texas.

JAL, Asia’s biggest airline by sales, has applied for funding from state-affiliated Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan as it restructures operations. A decision won’t be made until next year, the president said earlier this week.

Several Hundred Million

A person familiar with Delta’s JAL talks said in September that any investment by the Atlanta-based carrier would be at least several hundred million dollars. A spokeswoman, Betsy Talton, declined to comment today.

JAL fell 1.8 percent to 108 yen as of 10:24 a.m. in Tokyo today. It is down 49 percent this year, the biggest drop in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average. AMR rose 4.8 percent to $5.86 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading while Delta increased 2.6 percent to $7.93.

American parent AMR has completed about $5 billion in financing and liquidity agreements since July, and could use some of that money to fund a Japan Air infusion. AMR said Oct. 21 it has $1.1 billion in long-term debt and capital leases that mature in 2010 and a minimum $525 million cash pension expense.

“If they’re going to get into a bidding war with Delta over a stake in JAL, it’s going to be difficult for them to compete unless they have outside help,” Hunter Keay, a Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst in Baltimore who rates AMR as “hold.”

Oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance, the three main global airline groups, help carriers cut operating costs and allow them to expand sales networks without the difficulties or expense of a merger. Japan Air gets as much as $500 million a year in additional revenue from its Oneworld partnerships.

Investing in Airlines

TPG, formerly known as Texas Pacific Group, has invested in carriers including Midwest Air Group Inc., America West Holdings Corp., Tiger Airways Pte and Ryanair Holdings Plc, in addition to Continental. Bonderman is chairman of Dublin-based Ryanair. TPG backed a failed takeover bid for Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd., a Oneworld member, in 2007.

“TPG knows the airline business quite well,” said Robert Mann, president of aviation consulting firm R.W. Mann & Co. in Port Washington, New York. “They clearly are very capable and smart individuals.”

Delta Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson said last week that the carrier is working with SkyTeam on recruiting JAL as a member. The U.S. airline has offered to reimburse JAL for sales lost during any move to the group, the Wall Street Journal said, citing an unidentified person familiar with the situation.

To contact the reporters on this story: Serena Saitto in New York at ssaitto@bloomberg.net; Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at maryc.s@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: November 11, 2009 21:20 EST