Qantas boss Alan Joyce has increased pressure on federal Coalition MPs, saying government policy will "have to change" to guarantee the airline's role as Australia's national carrier.

The call comes as the Abbott Government fends off criticism over its handling of calls for assistance from fruit processor SPC Ardmona and the end of Australia's car manufacturing sector.

In a speech to the Tourism and Transport Forum on Wednesday night in Canberra, attended by several former and current Coalition MPs, Mr Joyce set out the case for government support based on the "uneven playing field in Australian aviation".

"We are especially pleased last week to see the Treasurer make the distinction between Qantas and companies like Holden and SPC," Mr Joyce said.

"Quite obviously, Qantas is not Holden... Since being privatised, Qantas has succeeded without the benefits that many of our competitors receive from their governments.

"No preferred access to airports, no tax breaks, no free infrastructure, no public subsidy."

He said Qantas's role as national carrier was one it wanted to "continue playing for many decades to come".

"But to do so, we have to change - and so does government policy."

However, he made the point that the airline is not looking for a financial handout from the taxpayer, and recognised that demands for changes to the Qantas Sale Act are unrealistic.

The Act currently limits foreign ownership in the airline to 49 per cent.

"The Qantas Sale Act limits our financial options, it adds cost to our business, and it influences our actions as a publicly listed company.

"Over the long term, repealing it is essential to remove the distortions in our aviation system.

"However, we recognise there is little political and community appetite for changing the Act in the short term.

"We have encouraged the Government to look for other solutions to address the uneven playing field as it stands right now.

"We think there are appropriate solutions that would not create precedents and would not come at a cost to taxpayers."

Joyce details cost-cutting measures undertaken by Qantas

There are reports Qantas is lobbying the Government to offer a public guarantee of its debt to secure its credit rating.

The previous Labor government offered similar backing to banks at the height of the global financial crisis.

Treasurer Joe Hockey has recently spoken sympathetically about the challenges facing Qantas, saying that "there is specific legislation that restricts the entity".

This morning, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has again noted the unique circumstances facing Qantas.

"We're very conscious of the particular challenge that Qantas faces in the context of restrictions imposed on them in the Qantas Sale Act," he told NewsRadio.

"We are having conversations with them and we're carefully considering the propositions that they've put to us."

The Federal Opposition says the Government needs to move swiftly.

Labor's transport spokesman Anthony Albanese says there is a legitimate case to help Qantas.

"Qantas is saying very publicly that they want assistance from the government and they've been saying that not for days or weeks, but months, and the government is sitting back and doing nothing, just like they sat back and did nothing about SPC Ardmona, or Toyota, Holden," he told Radio National.

But South Australian Independent Senator Nick Xenophon is urging caution.

Senator Xenophon says a forensic look at the books is needed before the airline gets any help.

"There is something to be said for a forensic look at Qantas' books when you consider Qantas seems to have spent a lot of money in Asia, that Jetstar's Asian operations seem to be a big black hole for Qantas," he said.

Mr Joyce bolstered his argument with details of the cost-cutting measures the airline has taken.

"We've reduced unit costs by 20 per cent over four years, renewed our fleet with 130 new, fuel-efficient aircraft, introduced new technology on a large scale and closed maintenance bases that had become marginal because of our younger, more efficient fleet," he told the gathering.

"We have done more than any other Australian company to reform in the face of new economic realities."

He has pointed to a "new, accelerated phase" of cost reductions - hoping to make $2 billion in cuts over three years.

"There is no doubt that there will be more hard decisions for Qantas over the months to come," he said.

"We will look at all options and consider all steps to strengthen our business.

"Few of the decisions we make will be popular."

Qantas will release its half-yearly results later this month.