Budget airline Bonza continued to sell tickets for almost two weeks, despite receiving default notices it would be forced to ground its planes.

Thousands of passengers were left stranded across Australia when Bonza flights were cancelled on Tuesday morning with little notice.

Administrator Hall Chadwick revealed default notices were issued to the airline on April 17, almost two weeks before customers were left scrambling to secure alternative flights.

Bonza leased its entire fleet of Boeing 737-8 planes and those lease agreements were terminated late on Monday.

Bonza’s directors claimed the action by planes’ lessors that forced them to ground flights was “not foreshadowed or expected”, Hall Chadwick said in a statement on Thursday.

It said insufficient cashflow and funding was preventing Bonza from continuing to operate.

All planes have been grounded until at least next Wednesday, despite initial hopes that flights might resume on Friday.

More than 180 Bonza flights had been scheduled in the next week, with up to 33,000 passengers.

Instead, most of Bonza’s 150 staff have been stood down and passengers with upcoming flights have been told not to head to the airport unless they already have a seat with a different airline.

“The administrators appreciate this is not the news that the employees, customers, and other key stakeholders would like to hear. However, there is no alternative course of action available to the administrators at this point in time,” Hall Chadwick said.

There were multiple reports on Friday that the stood-down employees have been told they won’t be paid for April – and they should turn to the government for emergency payments.

One source told the ABC that workers wept as they heard the news at a virtual staff meeting on Thursday night.

“They [Bonza and administrators] said they can’t do anything – they are not in a position to pay anyone,” the source said.

“I would have thought staff would get paid, even half. They get nothing. Zero.

“They’ve put petrol in their car and driven to work five days a week. Rent is due and they’ve got no money.”

Another Queensland-based Bonza employee told News.com.au that “something has been going on” for a while and it was obvious the airline had been “tightening the strings”.

“They are not feeding staff with crew meals or paid breaks anymore,” the worker said.

“There is this ongoing feeling of tightening the strings … we are now limited to one bottle of water each, and no green tea.

“These kind of things are happening all the time.”

The Transport Workers Union said wages must be paid as a priority.

“The shock of Bonza falling into administration has barely subsided and workers are being forced to enter Centrelink queues,” it said on Friday.

“It’s appalling that Bonza has failed workers so spectacularly and that aviation workers are once again paying the price for a broken industry.

“These are hard-working people with bills to pay and families to feed. They are highly trained. This is a devastating blow and a cause for great worry in a cost-of-living crisis.

“Bonza’s administrators must strain every sinew to find the means to pay these workers urgently. There is no greater priority than this.”

Passengers with Bonza bookings have been told to contact their banks or travel insurance providers, as refunds for lost flights are not being processed.

Hall Chadwick said on Thursday that daily meetings were continuing with the lessors and other interested parties.

“During this time, whilst the aircraft remain grounded and there is insufficient cashflow and funding, the administrators are unable to recommence full operations,” it said.

Hall Chadwick said specifics about Bonza’s financial position remained “commercially sensitive … and cannot be made public at this point”.

The Sunshine Coast-based company was unveiled in October 2021 and began flights in January 2023. It originally flew 27 routes to 17 destinations but started cutting services in its first six months.

-with AAP