It's too late to recover. Not all over but will dwindle down to natural self sustaining level.
After all the sell offs and outsourcing the financial side is still a mess.
Airlines are there to be state owned enterprises. To provide a service for the country's people, more so internally. Also to faciltate tourism and trade internationally. Not to make huge profits, to provide employment and create the overflow business that comes along with it. Duty free shops, post, airport concessions, care hire, motels etc.
You can't financially compare an airline to a coal mine, gold mine, steel mill, fish and chip shop, bank. There are in a category of their own.
The best option is for the govt to buy it back and rebuild it into an australian icon.