Bowen is full of sh*t
No airline in Australia is too big to fail. If qantas fail someone has to step into the breach and take up the slack, as happened when Ansett went under. How many ex Ansett employees ended up out of the Australian aviation Industry? I would guess plenty, but nowhere near as many as those who took positions with Qantas and Virgin as they took up the slack. Not pretty. Hard on all those employees and families for sure, but at the end of the day it is the brutal reality.
If Q goes under will there be 30,000 people out of work? No feckin way. Many will immediately get sucked into Tiger and Virgin as they scramble to take up the slack. Then there will be the inevitable replacement airline that steps in to break Virgins monopoly.
Qantas is not too big to fail, in fact it is probably the best possible outcome for the business as it would create the opportunity for someone to pick up the carcass and have a crack without the legacy baggage that the airline currently carries.