Up to 16,000 jobs are up in the air after Virgin entered voluntary administration this morning.

Administrators will negotiate with creditors and streamline the company before selling it off.

However, Centre for Aviation (CAPA) Chairman Emeritus Peter Harbison argued this could actually be “quite a good outcome” for the airline.

“They’re going to end up with a clean register and a whole lot less debt once you come through this,” he told Deborah Knight

He said there’s “extraordinary interest” in the company, with at least 10 parties considering investing so far.

Mr Harbison says he’s “reasonably confident the majority of staff will get to keep their jobs”, but admitted the airline will need to ‘trim the fat’ under new ownership.

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Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Michael McCormack has defended the decision to withhold a $1.4 billion dollar bailout loan requested by Virgin.

He argues the government already fulfilled its obligation to keep regional communities connected through a previous $165 million support package.

“We don’t want to tip taxpayers’ money into the very deep pockets of foreign entities such as Sir Richard Branson, who, honestly, could mortgage his Caribbean island and help out,” Mr McCormack told Deborah Knight.

“It’s not liquidation.

“For Virgin employees at the moment, this is the best way forward.”

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