Social media has been trending with heated debates about the future of Virgin Australia.

One of the main arguments, repeated on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, is that Virgin Australia should not be "bailed out" by the Federal Government since it is majority foreign-owned and since it has been badly managed for most of the past decade.

In that time, the company has made a profit just twice and has now got about $5 billion in debt on its books, which new administrator Deloitte has to work out how to wipe out as it finds a new owner for the airline.

Joel Ellison, who has worked as a baggage handler at Virgin for more than 10 years, is one of Virgin's 10,000 direct workers, 8,000 of whom have been temporarily stood down since March.

He says it is frustrating to watch these debates unfold, as people often forget there are real people whose livelihoods depend on the outcome of what happens after insolvency.

"You've got people with mortgages trying to get a freeze on repayments," he tells ABC News.

"You've got people wondering how they'll pay rent. It's a really stressful time.

"They [some people commentating] don't see the bigger picture and how it not only affects the airline, but the workers."

Mr Ellison's own family is struggling amid the coronavirus crisis.

"I have a young family, I have a six-month-old girl, Blake, and a stepson, Riley, 9. And my wife was stood down as operations manager [at a retailer]," he said.

"The JobKeeper [$1,500 fortnightly wage subsidy] has helped us put food on the table and pay the bills, but it doesn't pay for everything."

Mr Ellison has worked as a baggage handler at Virgin for more than 10 years. ( Supplied )

Many of Virgin's direct workers are highly skilled

About 1,000 of Virgin's 10,000 direct employees have already been made redundant, and fears are that number will now spike as Deloitte works through the voluntary administration process.

Deloitte's Vaughn Strawbridge on Tuesday said it would take two to three months to work through that and appoint a new owner.

He said they were "not planning any redundancies", but no one can give a firm guarantee jobs won't be lost if the new owners decide to cut-back routes.

"Hopefully, we can maintain all the jobs, or as many as possible, coming through this process," Mr Strawbridge said.

Where the new-look Virgin flies, and how often it flies, will be a matter for the new owners.

Mr Strawbridge has said there are more than 10 interested parties.

The financial press is rife with suggestions of who wants to take over, from private equity firms (which would likely carve out unprofitable parts of the business), to another foreign airline.

But regardless of who takes over, the issue of what happens to Virgin's workforce — 41 per cent of which is highly skilled — remains under a cloud.

Some of those skilled staff include 1,648 first officers and captains, 419 engineers and 55 workers performing specialist operations controller roles, as well as many others.

There are also other workers and engineers working for Virgin's third-party training providers — those employed at aviation simulator centres such as the Boeing Sim Centre and various other training facilities.

Then there are another 6,000 workers employed in related supply chains such as catering and security and hundreds of thousands of workers in the wider tourism and hospitality industry that rely on a strong aviation sector.

"You have refuelers, caterers, cleaners, and people who do the cargo," Mr Ellison said.

"You've got the tourism industry — the hotels, public transport operators [bus companies, taxi firms and rideshare drivers].

"It [job losses at Virgin Australia] has a domino effect."

About 1,000 of Virgin Australia's 10,000 direct employees have already been made redundant. ( ABC News: Chris Gillette )

How tourism jobs depend on aviation

The future of Australian aviation is crucial for the wider tourism sector, which is already bleeding because of recent travel bans initiated to stop the spread of COVID19.

Tourism-related businesses are a substantial part of the national economy, accounting for more than one in eight of Australia's 2.3 million businesses.

According to Tourism Research Australia figures, as of June 2018, Australia had 302,520 tourism-related businesses employing about 666,000 people.

While most of those tourism-related businesses are predominantly small operations (only 5 per cent had 20 employees or more), Tourism Australia says aviation capacity is critical to Australia's tourism industry.

Prior to the coronavirus crisis, there were 59 international airlines and 1,929 international flights into Australia every week.

"As a large island nation, domestic and international aviation capacity and connectivity is critical to our tourism industry," Tourism Australia managing director Phillipa Harrison told ABC News.

This, she said, was "clearly evidenced by the historical correlation between aviation capacity growth and tourism growth".

Increased capacity leads to increased numbers of travellers. Lower capacity leads to reduced numbers.

Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine said daily flights packed with tourists had a positive ripple effect on hotels, restaurants, cafes, bars and tour companies.

"On top of the 16,000 people Virgin employ, there are many other workers right across the transport and tourism sector that need this company to get back on its feet," he said.

"In order to give these companies and workers the certainty they need right now, the Government must step up and take a stake in Virgin to ensure its long-term survival."

ACTU president Michele O'Neil fears with the airline now under voluntary administration, "every option to cut costs is now on the table and this means jobs are at real risk".

"Australian tourism is a key driver of our economic well-being and needs a competitive, full-service airline industry to survive and thrive," she said.

"That's why the Morrison Government must immediately intervene to buy equity in Virgin Australia."

Ms O'Neil added that continued inaction would also leave taxpayers lumped with an $800 million bill for unpaid entitlements. And, if routes are reduced, consumers could face higher airfares.

"Our domestic tourism industry will be placed under immense pressure with exploding ticket prices as well as the gutting of key regional and tourist routes," she said.

The question of whether the airline had been carrying too much debt would be looked at as part of the administration process. ( Supplied: Brisbane Airport Corporation )

Fear that Virgin's new owner may dump regional routes

Virgin Australia has for almost 20 years been competing with Qantas in all market segments including the domestic, regional, international, frequent flyer, cargo, charter and low-cost sectors.

Until COVID19 grounded all but one of its flights, Virgin was operating a fleet of 130 aircraft and flying to 41 destinations, with strategic alliance partnerships with Delta Air Lines, Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airlines, China's HNA Group

It had more than 10 million Velocity Frequent Flyer members.

Even if a new entrant were able to enter the market, it could take years to establish a full-service airline, and that's if it ever can, or even wants to.

There's concern that Virgin's new owners, once appointed, may decide to cut unprofitable routes into regional Australia and only focus on the lucrative ones into major capital cities.

Without as many regional routes, airports will face the prospect of reduced revenues to fund their operations, which could also threaten other jobs.

Looking at key domestic routes Virgin had been operating:

In Western Australia it operated direct flights between Perth and Broome, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Kununurra, Newman, Onslow and Port Hedland. It had been offering sale fares between $99 and $199 across these markets.

In Western Australia it operated direct flights between Perth and Broome, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Kununurra, Newman, Onslow and Port Hedland. It had been offering sale fares between $99 and $199 across these markets. In Cairns, it ran direct flights to Cairns from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, with sale fares from as low as $99.

In Cairns, it ran direct flights to Cairns from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, with sale fares from as low as $99. In Mackay it operated direct flights from Brisbane to Mackay, Proserpine and Townsville, as well as services between Sydney and Townsville, with sale fares from as low as $95 to Mackay, $79 to Proserpine and $99 to Townsville.

In Mackay it operated direct flights from Brisbane to Mackay, Proserpine and Townsville, as well as services between Sydney and Townsville, with sale fares from as low as $95 to Mackay, $79 to Proserpine and $99 to Townsville. In Tasmania it operated direct flights between both Hobart and Launceston and Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, with sale fares from as low as $99 to Hobart and $69 to Launceston.

In Tasmania it operated direct flights between both Hobart and Launceston and Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, with sale fares from as low as $99 to Hobart and $69 to Launceston. In Northern Territory it ran direct flights between Darwin and Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, as well as on the Sydney-Uluru, Brisbane-Alice Springs and Adelaide-Alice Springs routes, with sale fares from as low as $99 to Darwin, $169 to Uluru and $135 to Alice Springs.

In Northern Territory it ran direct flights between Darwin and Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, as well as on the Sydney-Uluru, Brisbane-Alice Springs and Adelaide-Alice Springs routes, with sale fares from as low as $99 to Darwin, $169 to Uluru and $135 to Alice Springs. In NSW it operated direct flights between Sydney and Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie, with sale fares from as low as $75.

Labor Senator Nita Green believes about 20,000 jobs that rely on direct tourism in Cairns are at risk.

"Whether the Government decides to give that support to all of the airlines in the country — not just the two national airlines but also regional-based airlines is a decision for the Government," Senator Green said.

"It is one we would welcome because we want to make sure that the aviation sector is there in the long term.

"What we don't want to see is one national airline, a monopoly airline, an increase in fares and a failure for people to be able to fly to places like Cairns and the Whitsundays to take their holidays."

"That would be a disaster for our economy and would make sure that the recovery for people in Cairns is longer and is harder."

Labor Senator Nita Green believes about 20,000 jobs that rely on direct tourism in Cairns are at risk. ( Jane Bunce: AAP )

Some of Virgin's creditors will face big losses

On Wednesday, ratings agency Fitch again downgraded its outlook on Virgin, noting that while a third party could purchase the airline as part of the process and allow it to remain the second carrier in Australia, the airline's balance sheet will undergo inevitable restructuring.

"Creditors will likely have to take a haircut on outstanding debt," Fitch said.

"Our downgrade of VAH's rating to 'D' reflects the increased probability of this occurring."

Moody's Investors Service vice president Ian Chitterer said it is inevitable that some Virgin creditors will face a loss.

"Should the administrators manage to restructure and refinance the business, unsecured creditors — including holders of the debt issued in October 2019 to finance the acquisition of the remaining 35 per cent stake in Velocity — will likely have to take a significant haircut," he said.

Virgin's creditors include holders of about $1.8 billion worth of bonds, who rank below the banks, and others which hold about $3 billion in secured debt.

Virgin's major foreign shareholders, including Singapore Airlines and Etihad, are both already facing significant debts because of the coronavirus crisis, which is why they did not jump in to help save the airline.

Amid all the uncertainty, there's still the possibility of the Federal Government stepping in with some sort of assistance.

Virgin Australia chief executive Paul Scurrah on Tuesday repeated that the airline had never wanted a "bailout".

He had originally asked the Federal Government for a $1.4 billion loan, which could be converted into shares. This would have given it an equity stake.

By Monday, before Virgin's board met and made the fateful decision to enter into voluntary administration, that request for Government funds had reduced to $200 million. Even that plea got rejected.

There is still time for the Government to come to the table, if it has to. But all indications, so far, are that it won't.

On Tuesday, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced former Macquarie CEO Nicholas Moore would now be the go-between man for the Government and the administrator.

And Mr Frydenberg repeated the Government's common line used during the past few weeks — that it is up to the market to sort its own problems out.

But Labor leader Anthony Albanese says there's an Australian national interest in having two airlines.

"We've seen what the consequences of having a single airline is, for issues like prices, for routes," Mr Albanese said on Wednesday.

"We live in an island continent with a relatively sparse population spread across such vast distances, which is why aviation is particularly important."

Virgin worker Joel Ellison won't comment on the politics.

He only hopes administrators Deloitte work as fast as they can and ensure that most of Virgin's 10,000 direct workers have jobs to return to.

"It's tough not knowing when we're going to come out the other side of this," Mr Ellison said.

"Hopefully it [Deloitte] can get it sorted out quickly. And hopefully, the majority of us can keep our jobs."