Japan Airlines files for bankruptcy

1970: Japan Airlines launches a Boeing 747 jumbo jet Photograph: Sankei Archive/Getty Images Photograph: Sankei Archive/guardian.co.uk 1999: A shareholder displays a shirt demanding that the media expose supposed wrongdoings by the airline prior to the company's annual shareholders meeting in Tokyo. In 1998, JAL's reputation was tarnished after revelations that JAL funnelled money to 'sokaiya' corporate racketeers, apparently to prevent them from disrupting shareholders meetings Photograph: Katsumi Kasahara/AP Photograph: Katsumi Kasahara/guardian.co.uk February 2002: Flight attendants of Asian airlines distribute leaflets to passersby in a joint campaign in Tokyo to revitalise their hard-hit business following the 11 September attacks Photograph: Chiaki Tsukumo/AP Photograph: Chiaki Tsukumo/guardian.co.uk 2003: JAL planes at the New Tokyo International Airport in Narita, Japan Photograph: Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photograph: Yoshikazu Tsuno/guardian.co.uk 2003: Ground staff help customers at the luggage check-in counter at Tokyo's Haneda airport. JAL Group posted a weak full year net profit and warned of deep losses people as cancelled flights due to Sars Photograph: Yoshikatsu Tsuno/AFP Photograph: Yoshikatsu Tsuno/guardian.co.uk 2004: JAL President Isao Kaneko and Japanese actress Akiko Yada try new seats during a promotion for better seating on aircraft. In March JAL announced it would slash its group workforce by nearly 8% in the next three years while downgrading its sales and profit forecasts Photograph: Yoshikatsu Tsuno/AFP Photograph: Yoshikatsu Tsuno/guardian.co.uk 2006: JAL workers wave at one of their planes preparing for takeoff at the newly opened Kobe airport Photograph: Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP Photograph: Toshifumi Kitamura/guardian.co.uk January 2009: A worker checks an engine of a Japan Airlines Boeing 747-300 plane before a demonstration flight at Haneda Airport in Tokyo Photograph: Itsuo Inouye/AP Photograph: Itsuo Inouye/guardian.co.uk May 2009: Passengers are evacuated from Japan Airlines Flight 61 to Tokyo after one of the plane's jet engines sucked up a cargo container at Los Angeles International Airport Photograph: Calvin Nguyen/AFP Photograph: Calvin Nguyen/guardian.co.uk September 2009: Japan Airlines president Haruka Nishimatsu dressed in a 'happi coat', hands out leaflets to promote the company to commuters in Tokyo Photograph: Jiji Press/AFP Photograph: Jiji Press/guardian.co.uk January 2010: A JAL plane from New Chitose airport flies over Tokyo as it approaches Haneda international airport Photograph: Issei Kato/Reuters Photograph: Issei Kato/guardian.co.uk January 2010: A man watches the share price of Japan Airlines in front of a brokerage in Tokyo Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/guardian.co.uk January 2010: A JAL passenger plane takes off at Tokyo International Airport Photograph: Junko Kimura/Getty Images Photograph: Junko Kimura/guardian.co.uk January 2010: Passengers use a self-check-in machine at Haneda Airport in Tokyo Photograph: Itsuo Inouye/AP Photograph: Itsuo Inouye/guardian.co.uk 19 January 2010: Japan Airlines president Haruka Nishimatsu bows during a press conference in Tokyo, shortly after Japan's flagship carrier filed for bankruptcy in one of the nation's largest corporate failures. Nishimatsu resigned, bowing deeply as he apologised for the company's troubles Photograph: Itsuo Inouye/AP Photograph: Itsuo Inouye/guardian.co.uk