Japan Airlines (JAL) is expected to file for bankruptcy today, and announce drastic cuts to its workforce as the ailing carrier seeks to restructure.

However, the airline will likely maintain its operations as it seeks protection from creditors.

Japan’s transport Seiji Maehara announced last Friday that the government will decide on a restructuring plan for JAL today, say media reports in Japan.

The airline is also expected to cut its workforce by a third over the next three years, bringing the total staff strength to 36,000, the reports add.

A JAL spokeswoman declines to comment.

The carrier is expected to file for protection from its creditors, under the Japanese equivalent of Chapter 11 in the USA.

Japan’s Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan (ETIC) is working on a restructuring plan for JAL, and is likely to offer ¥300 billion ($3.3 billion) in government funds.

Banks are also expected to forgive several hundred billion yen in loans.

In the meantime, JAL has secured approval from its current and former employees to make cuts to pension schemes in a bid to cut costs.

The carrier posted a fiscal second quarter net loss of ¥32.1 billion and reportedly owes creditors $15 billion.

British Airways says 800 workers have volunteered to work for nothing for up to a month, following its request to cut costs.

[From 800 BA workers set to work unpaid]

The world’s airlines will lose $9 billion this year after shedding $10.4 billion in 2008, IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said Monday.

Addressing delegates at the 65th IATA Annual General Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Bisignani said, “There is no modern precedent for today’s economic meltdown” and expressed doubt that growth will resume by year end, making the case instead for an “L-shaped” recovery. “I am a realist. I don’t see facts to support optimism,” he said.

IATA expects annual airline revenues will fall by $80 billion this year to $448 billion from $528 billion in 2008. Bisignani also warned that “whether this crisis is short or long, the world is changing. . .It will not be business as usual.” He cited, for example, the growth of videoconferencing during the downturn, which is now “a stronger competitor” to air travel.

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Singapore Airlines  has unveiled capacity cuts across much of its passenger network as it copes with a drop in demand amid the global economic downturn.

The Star Alliance carrier said earlier this week that it will now be decommissioning 17 aircraft in the financial year starting 1 April, rather than four aircraft as previously planned. It said this would amount to an 11% reduction in capacity.

SIA says now that the 11% capacity reduction will come from service cuts across much of its network, on all its key route regions.