TOKYO, Sept. 25 (Reuters) – Japan Airlines Corp. has asked for a government bail-out, the carrier's CEO said on Thursday, as the struggling carrier battles for survival by cancelling flights and laying off staff.

Ahead of the plea, JAL's shares tumbled 18 percent to a record low after sources said lenders might seek to break up the carrier and a media report of the bail-out plea.

JAL, swamped by 1.4 trillion yen ($15.4 billion) of debt as a global slump in aviation, has been wooed by rival airlines seeking to inject cash to gain access JAL's valuable route network and high-paying Japanese passengers.

But the airlines, from both the SkyTeam and Oneworld global airline alliances, have not proposed investing the full 250-billion yen JAL reportedly needs to the end of its financial year next March.

''Nothing's sure about JAL's future. It's already Japan's GM,'' said Mizuho Investors Securities analyst Takahiko Kishi.

''JAL would have to come up with really drastic restructuring to convince lenders or the government, but even if they do, the market would doubt whether such measures could really be implemented.''

JAL CEO Haruka Nishimatsu, talking to reporters after meeting Japan's new transport minister, said that the indebted carrier needed government
help.

''Considering debt repayments planned ahead, we thought asking for the public fund injection would make the most sense,'' Nishimatsu told reporters.

Nishimatsu rejected a suggestion, made by two sources familiar with the matter this week, that some JAL creditors may seek to break up his airline, in an effort to separate out the worst parts of the company.

''If we were a manufacturer, then that could have been a choice. But for us, an airline company, that's not an option,'' he said.

After meeting Nishimatsu, Transport Minister Seiji Maehara met the carrier's lenders, including the state-owned Development Bank of Japan. No details of those talks were immediately available.