Independent senator Nick Xenophon says legislative changes are needed to prevent the Qantas fleet being grounded on the say-so of one person.
The airline grounded its fleet nine days ago, leaving about 70,000 of its passengers stranded in Australia and overseas.
Qantas boss Alan Joyce took the action in response to rolling industrial action by unions.
Senator Xenophon says the Qantas Sale Act needs to be amended by parliament to avoid a repetition of the grounding.
"Never again can a fleet of the nation's flag carrier be grounded on the say of one person," he told reporters in Canberra this morning.
"This was about an industrial dispute and that is something that needs to change."
Senator Xenophon said Mr Joyce had told a Senate inquiry on Friday that he had acted unilaterally to ground the entire fleet.
"That is entirely unsatisfactory that it didn't have to go the board of Qantas where there was no further hierarchy of responsibility," he said.
Meanwhile, the Qantas engineers' union say they are sick of the company's human resources (HR) managers telling them how to do their job as negotiations resume for the first time since the airline was grounded.
Steve Purvinas, secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, said Qantas was trying to get rid of 128 engineers who perform safety checks on each flight.
Such checks would only be conducted at the end of each day, he said, and the union wants the airline to retain 20 of those jobs to maintain a safety oversight over each flight.
''They just say we don't have to do anymore checks on aircraft that they think are unnecessary but we say they are required for safety reasons,'' Mr Purvinas said.
''Quite frankly, we're sick of Qantas and their HR managers telling us about safety and aircraft engineering.
''They don't know the difference between a wing and a wing nut.''
The parties have resumed discussions at Fair Work Australia in Melbourne this morning for the first time since the airline grounded its fleet last month.
Fair Work Australia has given the airline and union 21 days to reach a settlement.
If they fail to reach a settlement, there will be compulsory arbitration.
Mr Purvinas said further negotiations with Qantas would be held in Sydney on Thursday.
''By today, we'll know whether Qantas are interested in negotiating an outcome or whether they'll continue to stonewall which has been the case up until now,'' he said.
Mr Purvinas said discussions around pay had been settled and Monday's negotiations would focus on the job losses.
A Qantas spokesman said all matters remained on the negotiating table.
''There has been no agreement reached on pay with the union despite their claims to the contrary,'' the spokesman said.
''We are committed to the negotiations before Fair Work Australia and believe that we should be able to reach an agreement over the 21-day period.''
AAP
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