The employees, by virtue of numbers, can block any proposed Deed of Company Arrangement. They are the only creditor grouping with that power. Don't think for a moment that the unions do not understand that. They will have a big say in terms of which way this swings. Why do you think BGH were handed their hat?
The only experience I have is what I saw and went through during the Ansett administration. Just to be clear Ansett didn't just suddenly stop flying, it was in administration for 5 months flying a limited service with the support of the ACTU. So the unions were well and truly represented during the whole period when KM were negotiating the sale to Fox and Lew. Lindsay Fox in particular was very chummy with the unions through his association with Bill Kelty. At the end of the day it didn't matter and the employees and the unions were left high and dry when the people with the money decided at literally the last minute to not proceed with the purchase.
My advise to any Virgin employee is not to put your faith in the union to secure the deal despite what they say because they can't force Bain or Cyrus to buy the airline if at the last minute they choose not to. The most devastating statement I heard during the whole Ansett debacle was Greg Combet on the news stating "There are no jobs to be saved at Ansett.".