Debt-laden Belgian national airline Sabena is to suspend operations on Wednesday.
A Sabena spokesman did not know how long the suspension would last.
Trade unions said management had told them on Friday there was "a big chance" that the Sabena holding company, excluding subsidiaries, would be put into liquidation this week since no new investors had been found.
Staff sources said the board of Sabena would meet tomorrow followed by a workers' council. Sabena spokesman Mr Wilfried Remans declined comment on the board meeting or the suspension of operations.
A Belgian court granted the airline a two-month bankruptcy protection early last month after co-parent Swissair, which owns the remaining 49.5 per cent, reneged on its promise to inject badly needed cash in the airline.
Sabena chief executive Mr Christoph Mueller hinted at the liquidation option in a memo to staff last week, saying no investors were likely to want the whole Sabena group, but he hoped to continue some activities through the DAT subsidiary.