Brindabella hurt by competition, costs Competition between carriers and the cost of regulation and maintenance are partly to blame for regional airline Brindabella's financial woes, the group's receivers say. The troubled airline on Sunday was placed in receivership after the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) grounded its fleet last week. Receivers from KordaMentha are meeting the airline's 140 staff on Monday, and have called for expressions of interest in the airline, which services regional centres from Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane. The airline is not receiving bookings and all flights have been suspended. KordaMentha partner David Winterbottom said "the competitive nature of the airline industry, regulatory and maintenance issues" had contributed to the airline's problems. "The financial pressures this would have placed on the airline would certainly be significant factors," Mr Winterbottom said in a statement. He said Qantas was providing extra services on some of Brindabella's usual routes and that KordaMentha was in "urgent discussions with the NSW government and regulatory authorities regarding sourcing other replacement services." In a statement, the Transport Workers Union (TWU) urged KordaMentha to keep the airline flying. "The receiver will make clear the causes for this airline's collapse, but safety and maintenance are clearly involved," TWU national secretary Tony Sheldon said. He called on Brindabella management to "step up and fix these safety issues." Mr Sheldon said he would ask Qantas to help make sure Brindabella passengers weren't stranded. " (Qantas) should commit to flying these routes until Brindabella gets back on its feet," he said. Jeff Boyd, who established the business in 1994, said the airline was in good shape when he sold it in 2011. He says Brindabella can work. There's towns there that need a service. It can be a viable service," he told ABC Radio on Monday. I certainly hope there's a buyer out there and I certainly hope the buyer sees there's some staff there that would make it a good company.