Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- American Airlines Chief Executive Officer Gerard Arpey said Oneworld will resist Delta Air Lines Inc.’s attempts to lure Japan Airlines Corp. into a rival alliance.

“We are committed to maintaining and strengthening that partnership,” Arpey said yesterday of Oneworld and JAL, at an alliance event in Mexico. “We are convinced that we can deliver the most meaningful alliance value to JAL by a wide margin.”

Delta has begun attempts to woo JAL, Asia’s largest carrier by sales, into SkyTeam as the Japanese airline seeks support from the government and lenders to avoid collapse. American’s Arpey last month told executives that JAL leaving Oneworld would be “very bad” for the U.S. carrier.

Oneworld members are considering options for JAL, including an investment in the airline, Arpey told reporters after an alliance meeting, without giving specifics.

“I’m convinced that by JAL staying with Oneworld and all of us continuing to find other ways to cooperate, we can by a very wide margin produce the most value for JAL in the long run,” Arpey said. “Whether or not that includes an investment remains to be seen.”

$500 Million A Year

JAL gets as much as $500 million a year in additional revenue from its alliance partnerships. Arpey said the Tokyo- based carrier would face more costs with a move to SkyTeam, and no guarantee that it would be able to gain antitrust immunity with Delta for trans-Pacific flights.

American approached JAL in June about seeking such immunity, which would let them coordinate pricing and flight schedules. All Nippon Airways Co. may apply for similar immunity with Star Alliance partners United Airlines Inc. and Continental Airlines Inc., Shinichiro Ito, the Japanese carrier’s president, said today in Tokyo.

The alliance competition over Japan Airlines is a “very big threat and opportunity for us,” Arpey told American Airlines executives at an Oct. 29 meeting. A change in alliances “would be a very bad idea for Japan Airlines,” he said in comments disclosed earlier this week. “That would certainly be very bad for us.”

The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier has said its talks with JAL now include “possible capital for financing arrangements” for the Japanese company.

JAL Job Cut Plans

JAL has proposed cutting 6,800 jobs and the biggest reduction of routes in its history, and has asked employees to give up winter bonuses and possibly face pension reductions. State-affiliated Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan will decide on whether to grant the carrier a fourth government bailout since 2001 next year, Hiroshige Nishizawa, president of the fund, said in Tokyo yesterday.

Delta, which gained footholds in Japan and Asia when it acquired Northwest Airlines Corp. last year, is seeking an Asian partner for its alliance.

Oneworld is led by American and British Airways Plc. Other members include Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair Oyj, Spain’s Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA, Chile’s Lan Airlines SA, Hungary’s Malev Zrt., Qantas Airways Ltd. and Royal Jordanian Airlines.

To contact the reporters on this story: Crayton Harrison in Mexico City at tharrison5@bloomberg.net; Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at maryc.s@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 9, 2009 23:59 EST