Online flight booking portal Bestjet — which collapsed last month leaving customers scrambling for money — was established by the wife of a man who helped run another failed airline business.

Key points: Former Bestjet's director Rachel James is the wife of former Air Australia director Michael James

Former Bestjet's director Rachel James is the wife of former Air Australia director Michael James Mr James was banned from managing corporations for three years after Air Australia folded in 2012

Mr James was banned from managing corporations for three years after Air Australia folded in 2012 Bestjet entered voluntary administration last month

Rachel James is listed as one of three inaugural directors of Bestjet Travel Pty Ltd, which was founded on February 28, 2012.

Ms James is the wife of former Air Australia director Michael James.

Air Australia, a budget airline, folded in February 2012 with debts of nearly $100 million — including about $36 million that was owed to ticket holders.

Thousands of passengers were left stranded.

The application to register Bestjet was made less than a fortnight after Air Australia's liquidation.

An Air Australia Airbus A320-200 in 2011. ( Supplied: Air Australia Airways )

In December 2013, Mr James was banned from managing corporations for three years by ASIC over his involvement in the failure of seven companies in the Air Australia group.

At the time, ASIC said Mr James had "failed to comply with his director's duty to act with care and diligence".

Ms James ceased being a Bestjet director on November 2, 2018 when the company was sold.

Six weeks later it went into voluntary administration.

Thousands of customers now say their travel plans are up in the air, unsure of whether airlines will honour their Bestjet bookings, while others chase reimbursement from their banks.

Some Bestjet customers fear they could be left thousands of dollars out of pocket, including Cheryl Hendy whose family spent more than $16,500 on business class trips to Paris.

Lyn Riley paid over $3000 for a holiday to Milan.

A Facebook support group, the Bestjet Fiasco Action Group, has been set up for affected customers to share information about how best to deal with the enormous fallout.

Michael James had role at Bestjet

The Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) accredited Bestjet to its AFTA Travel Accreditation Scheme (ATAS) in July 2014 — a signal to customers that the holder is "credible, well-trained and a professional business".

It was renewed in April 2015, but AFTA later became concerned Mr James may have had some role in the business and removed the accreditation in 2016.

Bestjet challenged the decision and unsuccessfully applied for an interlocutory injunction in the Brisbane Supreme Court in 2016.

The judgement in that case revealed details of Mr James' role in the company — but even the judge had reservations.

"The precise services which Mr James has provided to Bestjet from time to time are unclear," Justice Peter Applegarth said.

Travel booking company Bestjet went into voluntary administration on December 18.

The Supreme Court judgment details how Ms James claimed her husband was employed between November 2013 and December 2015 as a "fares and pricing analyst" for Bestjet, but that he was not involved in the day-to-day running of the company.

Justice Applegarth found there was "some doubt" about that because in at least January 2014 Mr James was writing letters on the company's behalf, while in 2016 he was copied into correspondence about a consumer complaint.

Ms James signed a statutory declaration in March 2016 that said her husband had not been employed or contracted to Bestjet "in any capacity" since ceasing employment.

Ms James protested that if Bestjet was unable to promote itself as ATAS-accredited, it would lead to a likely loss of business and income, along with reputational damage in the industry.

AFTA's decision to remove Bestjet's ATAS tick was upheld, and last month the group said it had "fought vigorously" to ensure the company was not part of the scheme.