About 70 staff attended a meeting at the company's Canberra offices on Monday, leaving without speaking to the media but embracing colleagues and shedding tears.

Receiver KordaMentha moved to try to find a buyer for the troubled airline on Monday as passengers sought to make alternative arrangements on other carriers.

But although the receiver said it had already received expressions of interest in the airline, industry experts were pessimistic about their chances of getting a sale.

All the airline's 140 staff were temporarily stood down on Monday at 9am meetings across the country.

Suspended staff won't receive payments and, if the airline is liquidated, KordaMentha has admitted there wouldn't be enough assets to reimburse their entitlements.

KordaMentha receiver Sebastian Hams said employees had reacted strongly to the bad news.

''The reaction is a mix of fairly high emotion and sadness, a lot of people in these businesses love what they do and are passionate about what they do,'' he said.

He believed the suspension would be days, not weeks, and the workers would know where they stood by Christmas.

''It's very, very difficult and … it's really important that we're cognisant of the employees' emotions and how difficult it is and try and support them through the process,'' he said.

Brindabella Airlines was put into receivership on Sunday afternoon, after weeks of maintenance issues, and all flights have been cancelled for the forseeable future.

Passengers who previously bought tickets with the airline over Christmas have been forced to find new methods of transport and might not be refunded their money.

The NSW government, Qantas and Virgin have all announced additional measures to help travellers stranded over Christmas by the airline's collapse.

KordaMentha has been in talks with the NSW government, which announced on Monday it would put in place bus services to assist stranded passengers over the Christmas break.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said the new measures were an interim solution.

''[It will be] little comfort to those people who have booked and paid for airfares and may have a need to get to Sydney a bit quicker than a coach will do,'' he said.

Both Qantas and Virgin have offered discount relief airfares for customers stranded by Brindabella Airline's collapse.

KordaMentha has acknowledged not all ticket holders will be able to find replacement flights, nor will all cancelled tickets be refunded.

According to creditor information, customers who paid for their tickets with cash might not be able to get their money back.

Despite KordaMentha's hopes of an early sale, airline industry experts said it was highly unlikely that the receiver would be able to find a buyer for the airline.

Australian Aviation airline editor Geoffrey Thomas said razor-fine margins, high fuel costs and a softening economy were a weight on the entire industry.

''Casualties in this business are situation normal, simply because of the fine margins,'' he said.

Chairman of Strategic Aviation Solutions Neil Hansford said finding a buyer would be as likely as the carbon tax being repealed by Christmas.

He blamed the airline's troubles on the Civil Aviation Safety Authority's decision to ground eight planes for maintenance issues.

''I think once people start to get worried about engineering aspects, they vote with their feet, which affects the cash flow,'' he said.

Brindabella Airlines' previous owners Jeff Boyd and Lara Corry-Boyd, who sold it in 2011, said they were very upset by the news.

''It's so sad, the whole thing,'' Ms Corry-Boyd said. ''I feel so sad for all the people who worked for us so hard for the 17 years we owned the company.''

She said when they sold the airline in September 2011 it had been a profitable, safe, reputable and reliable airline.

''We sold it as a strong airline and that's the reason why someone wanted to buy it. It'd come through the GFC and turned into a good profitable airline,'' she said.