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TOKYO --

Japan Airlines is expected to file for bankruptcy protection Tuesday, ending months-long speculation about its fate and launching a massive overhaul to shed the fat and inefficiency that hobbled Asia's biggest airline.

With debts of 1.5 trillion yen ($16.5 billion) as of November, the carrier will go down in Japanese corporate history as one of its biggest failures.

Despite its woes, the airline's access to Asia is a prized asset for foreign airlines. Delta Air Lines Inc. is trying to lure Japan Airlines from its alliance with American Airlines.

The bankruptcy filing will be immediately followed by a restructuring plan crafted by a government-backed corporate turnaround body, according to media reports over the weekend. The government itself will offer assurances of support for the airline's rehabilitation and ongoing operations, the Nikkei financial daily said.

Investors Monday braced for a seemingly inevitable removal of the airline's shares from the stock exchange.

The issue, which has lost more than 90 percent of its value over the last week, tumbled another 29 percent Monday to 5 yen. The company is now essentially worthless, with a market capitalization of about 13.7 billion yen ($150 million) - the price of one Boeing 787 jet.

It's a humbling outcome for Japan's once-proud flagship carrier, called JAL for short, which was founded in 1951 and spent its early years owned by the state. Along with Japan's economy, it expanded quickly in the decades after World War II and was privatized in 1987.