Japan Airlines is expected to report another heavy loss on Friday when it announces second-quarter results, as it struggles to secure fresh government aid to finance its restructuring, writes Jonathan Soble .

Asia's largest airline by revenues is shrinking fast. It is eliminating thousands of jobs and last week announced it would withdraw from 16 unprofitable foreign and domestic routes, on top of the dozens it had already cancelled. JAL suffered a record Y100bn net loss in the previous quarter and was seeking a deal with the government and private-sector banks to reduce its more than Y1,400bn of interest-bearing debt. The process could take months, however, in part because JAL must negotiate cuts to pension payments with retirees and a group of hostile unions.