Japan Airlines Corp. said Monday that Isao Kaneko will resign as both chairman and board member at the end of this month and become an adviser to the company.

Although JAL officials declined to link Kaneko's resignation to a spate of safety-related incidents involving the nation's largest carrier, the move is widely seen as Kaneko taking the blame for the manifold problems at JAL.

JAL officials said the post of chairman will remain vacant for the time being.