The Morrison government's refusal of further financial support for Virgin has sealed the carrier's fate, with the airline preparing to go into voluntary administration.
That could include finding new owners to take over the airline and keep it operating or, if that is not possible, selling its remaining assets to pay off as many creditors as possible.
Simon Lutton, executive director of the Australian Federation of Air Pilots, which represents most of Virgin’s 1500 pilots, called on the government to support Virgin and its employees through the administration process to ensure the country had two airlines. Already Virgin had stood down around 8000 employees to try to slow its cash burn during the health crisis and announced around 1000 redundancies, including all pilots at its low-cost arm Tigerair and all New Zealand-based crew.The airline had meanwhile tried to broker a deal with the Queensland and NSW state governments about financial support, withbetween the two states on Monday over where the Brisbane-based group should be headquartered.
Labor infrastructure spokeswoman Catherine King called on the government to put money into the company with a line of credit.“What we do know is if the government doesn't act, if this company goes into voluntary administration, there are 16,000 workers who will be seeking JobSeeker assistance," she said.
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