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 on Monday.
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"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.
