Tamworth's next Virgin service could be flown by a smaller airline as part of a contracted "partnership" with the financially troubled carrier, Cr Col Murray said.
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But Tamworth's mayor said the city won't keep any alternative to Qantas unless residents are willing to back the city's second airline.
"The previous Virgin services weren't terribly well supported by our community," he said.
"All of these services that are provided the city, if the city don't take advantage of them it's unreasonable that we could expect for them to stay.
"I know we can't change history but if and when another carrier comes here, I think that should be at the front of people's mind."
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Virgin Australia on Wednesday announced its aircraft would not return to Tamworth "for the foreseeable future".
The airline was thrown into turmoil by the COVID-19 crisis and went into voluntary administration in April. A purchase by American venture capital firm Bain was finalised on Friday.
It's understood the airline was already looking to cut what was considered an underperforming route to Tamworth before the coronavirus crisis. Lockdowns and border closures simply sped up the decision.
Cr Murray said Tamworth would inevitably have two airlines once again.
A Virgin Executive on Wednesday had mentioned the potential option of contracting their service to a "partner" airline, he said.
"They were proposing to work hard to try and find a smaller airline 'partner' that could service some of their regional routes.
"They were in that process now. Obviously [Virgin have] disposed of their ATR 72 planes, I think they had four of those.
"I would expect that at some stage in the future we will see another carrier flying in and out of Tamworth. Whether that's attached to the Virgin brand or otherwise, at this stage we're not really sure."
Fly Corporate manager Jeff Boyd said his company would likely be in a holding pattern until the end of the COVID-19 crisis.
Asked if the company would consider a bid to replace Virgin's Sydney route in Tamworth he said they could be constrained by a bottleneck of available slots at Sydney airport.
"We never rule anything out, but we didn't see the headlines yesterday and race out and buy an aeroplane," he said.
Tamworth Regional Council is also unlikely to see all $100,000 Virgin Airlines owes the region's airport manager.
Council's Commercial Director of Airport and Aviation Development John Sommerlad said they had been told last week that as an unsecured creditor they would most likely receive a "small proportion" of the debt.
A Virgin spokesperson cited "ongoing subdued customer demand" for the network changes announced on Wednesday.
"We remain committed to regional Australia and we plan to continue to fly to 20 regional destinations in Australia," they said.
The airline will no longer fly 10 regional routes. The Tamworth route had not been operating since the height of the COVID-19 crisis.
Andrew Messenger
Politics, environment and energy journalist at the Northern Daily Leader. I also write about health, bushfires and occasionally music. I'm a Brisbane boy by way of Charleville and Hobart who now lives in in beautiful New England. Get me at andrew.messenger@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Politics, environment and energy journalist at the Northern Daily Leader. I also write about health, bushfires and occasionally music. I'm a Brisbane boy by way of Charleville and Hobart who now lives in in beautiful New England. Get me at andrew.messenger@austcommunitymedia.com.au
