British Airways PLC (BAIRY) confirmed Friday that it'S trying to keep Japan Airlines Corp. (JALSY) inside its Oneworld alliance amid efforts by the rival SkyTeam grouping to lure it away.

BA has been in talks with the loss-making Japanese carrier for a number of months, according to people familiar with the situation, but is discussing deeper cooperation rather than any cash injection.

"JAL is valuable to us as part of Oneworld," said a BA spokesman, who confirmed that BA, along with AMR Corp's (AMR) American Airlines and other members of the Oneworld alliance, are in talks with JAL.

American is considering taking an equity stake and this week bolstered its weak balance sheet with a $2.9 billion fundraising, according to people familiar with the talks.

The Oneworld partner talks with JAL have become more urgent since Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) opened discussions three weeks ago about taking a small equity stake to pull it into SkyTeam, which lacks a Japanese partner, according to people familiar with the situation.

Delta's SkyTeam partner Air France-KLM (AFLYY) is also considering an investment in JAL, according to reports.

All Nippon Airways Inc. (ALPNY), the second-largest Japanese carrier after JAL, is a member of the Star alliance, the third industry grouping.

BA said the carriers are keen to show JAL that they are supporting them as part of Oneworld. The company spokeswoman declined to comment whether support would include any financial investment, adding: "we are demonstrating" support.

American Chief Executive Gerard Arpey said Thursday that he "expects Oneworld to expand," but did not comment on talks with JAL.

-By Kaveri Niththyananthan, Dow Jones Newswires; 4420 7842 9299; kaveri.niththyananthan@dowjones.com

(Dan Michaels and Doug Cameron contributed to this report)