Newfoundland and Labrador Refining Corp., the Canadian company planning to build a C$4 billion ($3.8 billion) oil refinery on the country’s east coast, won a judge’s approval to exit bankruptcy and find a buyer or a partner for the project within two years, Bloomberg reported. Newfoundland Supreme Court Judge Robert Hall dismissed objections from BAE Newplan Group Ltd., a unit of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., and Japan Steel Works Ltd., Kobe Steel Works Ltd. and IPS Services Inc., who had sought to have the Canadian company declared bankrupt.

Shares of Japan Airlines Corp. slid to a record low on Tuesday on growing investor worries that Asia's largest airline by revenue could face bankruptcy as it struggles to agree pension cuts, Reuters reported. The slide was also fuelled by news that trading house Mitsui & Co sold all its 11.7 million JAL shares, raising speculation other shareholders would follow suit.

In a related story, Japan Airlines said Tuesday it obtained government approval to receive up to $1.1 billion in emergency loans aimed at preventing the money-losing company from grounding flights, The Associated Press reported. JAL signed an agreement with the state-run Development Bank of Japan after receiving government approval, a company official said on condition of anonymity, citing policy. Asia's largest airline has pressed for a government bailout and mulled over massive job cuts and other restructuring steps to avoid collapse.

Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced Tuesday that ailing Japan Airlines Corp., the nation's top carrier, can turn itself around despite share prices plummeting in recent weeks, Xinhua reported. "I still believe JAL can definitely rebuild itself if it carries out drastic restructuring, reviews its routes, replaces aging aircraft, and resolves the pension issue," Maehara said in a statement to the press on Tuesday.

Struggling carrier Japan Airlines Corp plans to propose cutting pension payments to its employees and retirees by an average of roughly 40 percent, a Japanese newspaper said on Saturday, Reuters reported. JAL President Haruka Nishimatsu will present the proposal at a meeting with retirees in Tokyo on Monday, the Mainichi Shimbun said without citing any sources. Whether the company will gain the support of at least two-thirds of its former employees needed to carry out such cuts to pension payments is unclear, Mainichi added.

Japan's transport minister said Friday that he hasn't heard from AMR Corp.'s American Airlines on the airline's intention to provide financial support to struggling carrier Japan Airlines Corp., Dow Jones reported. "No, we haven't (heard from American Airlines) ... There is no change in our policy to support JAL while (the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp.) is implementing assessment of JAL's assets," Seiji Maehara, Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, said at a regular press conference. JAL has been talking to both American and Delta Air Lines Inc.

Shares in Japan Airlines slid to a record low after the transport minister rattled investors by saying bankruptcy was still a possibility, even as U.S. carriers lined up with offers of financial support, Reuters reported. Delta Air Lines said it and partners in the SkyTeam alliance were ready to offer $1 billion, including a $500 million equity investment, in return for JAL defecting from the Oneworld alliance and its partnership with American Airlines. The offer follows news last week that private equity firm TPG was considering partnering with American Airlines on an investment in JAL.

A government task force working on a revival plan for Japan Airlines Corp is considering using a debt restructuring mediation scheme to help ease the airline's financing woes, two sources familiar with the matter said, Forbes reported. The task force is considering a scheme recently introduced in Japan called 'Alternative Dispute Resolution' under which a third party would mediate between JAL and its creditors, allowing for the temporary suspension of loan payments.

Japan set the stage for a huge bailout of Japan Airlines on Thursday, telling the struggling carrier to turn to a state-backed body for assistance, a move that ruled out a tougher stance by a new left-leaning government in Tokyo against the country’s powerful corporations, The New York Times reported. The government said JAL, Japan’s largest carrier by revenue, had been instructed to apply for funds from a state-backed turnaround body, after a special task force said saving the airline was “definitely possible” but would require a “substantial” injection of public money.

The Japanese government is aiming to come up with a blueprint for bailing out Japan Airlines Corp as early as this week, but several hurdles stand in the way of a final solution to the carrier's many problems. In a special report, Reuters considers questions and answers about JAL's troubles and how the government may go about injecting public funds. JAL is Asia's largest airline by revenue. Read more.