Grounded: Qantas stuck on the tarmac in pandemic recovery journey We’re sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later. Dismiss Credit:Jason South Normal text size Very large text size Qantas boss Alan Joyce made a typical boast this week: that his airline was in a better position than any other in the world to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. If true, it's a case of being the best in a bad bunch. Just a day earlier, the peak body representing airlines globally warned that the industry remained in a "perilous" position. Forward bookings for February and March are still down 80 per cent, more airlines are set to collapse and passenger numbers are not set to recover to 2019 levels until 2023, the International Air Transport Association said.