Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from the local news teams of the ACM network, which stretches into every state and territory. Today's is written by The Daily Advertiser editor Andrew Pearson.
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We all knew we were in for a bumpy landing.
So, while our seatbelts were firmly fastened for the descent to an update about the future of Regional Express, the voluntary administration announcement was no less unsettling when it landed late on Tuesday night.
The nervously-awaited, yet largely expected, news of Ernst & Young Australia being appointed administrators came via a statement on Rex's website and a video message on its Facebook page.
It confirmed the rumours that had taken flight on Tuesday. A halt in the airline's share trade the previous day had earlier hinted at turbulent times ahead.
Rex's domestic 737 services between major cities have been grounded, but its Saab 340 flights - which service regional areas including Wagga Wagga, Griffith and Leeton-Narrandera - are unaffected and continuing to operate.
The continuation of regional services is good news - for now. The long-term future of those services remains unclear.
Administrators have forecast a "relatively short" period before new financial backing is found to continue regional flights. On Wednesday, EY said it was confident the airline's status as a key regional carrier would continue.
Rex's heart, as its tagline says, is in the country and those 36-seater Saab 340 aircraft are more than just aeroplanes. They are lifelines and potential life-savers for some.
For some communities, like Leeton and Narrandera (which share an airport), it is the only commercial airline they've got.
So, while much focus has been on the cancellation of major metro-to-metro domestic connections, we must not lose sight of just how significant this announcement is for those in country areas.
Regional services are the reason Rex was born out of the ashes of the collapsed Ansett Group in 2002. Two regional airlines, Hazelton and Kendell, were rescued by Rex in August 2002 and its first flight took off from Wagga.
Rex and its subsidiaries employ about 2000 staff, including many in Wagga. Some of those jobs will likely go. The Transport Workers Union has said 250 positions will be axed from the airline's regional arm.
The airline has a maintenance hangar at the city's airport, which is also home to the Australian Airline Pilot Academy. The $28 million Rex-run academy remains outside the administration.
All options must be considered to keep Rex in the air.
As NSW Premier Chris Minns put it on Wednesday, this administration is a big threat and the stakes are massive for regional NSW.
The Premier rightly warned if Rex was to cease operations tomorrow and disappear, then major regional economies and currently-thriving communities, including Wagga, could suffer real damage.
We can't let that happen. The federal government cannot - and must not - turn a blind eye.
However, serious questions need to be asked about how we landed here in the first place and whether this turbulence could have been avoided.
In June 2020, Rex announced plans to aggressively expand its wings to already-dominated capital-city routes, and began flying them in March the following year.
Resulting profitability struggles and significant losses have now clipped those wings, leaving the very communities Rex was set up to serve as collateral damage.
