Reversing its longtime stance of sticking to bilateral agreements, Japan Airlines Corp. said Tuesday it has decided to join oneworld -- the global airline coalition featuring British Airways, American Airlines and other six carriers.

Leading carriers began jumping on the global alliance bandwagon in the late 1990s, but JAL was hesitant to follow suit because it thought building bilateral tieups was the best way to go for an airline that already had a large international network.

But a lot of things have changed since then, JAL President Toshiyuki Shinmachi said.