Japan Airlines (2010)

Japan Airlines' 2010 bankruptcy was the largest non-financial corporate failure in Japanese history - ¥2.3 trillion ($25 billion) in liabilities. JAL exemplified the Japanese corporate disease: lifetime employment, seniority wages, and political routes to nowhere. The airline flew to 56 domestic cities because Diet members demanded it, regardless of profitability. Pension obligations alone exceeded $8 billion. Government-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation took over, cut 16,000 jobs, terminated pensions, and axed 45 routes. JAL re-emerged profitable in 2011 and re-listed in 2012. Sometimes death is the only path to life.