British Airways’ record losses are a bellwether for an industry facing turbulent times, according to travel recruiters.

As BA posted losses of £400m, Nina Johnson-Bennett, managing director at Management Search Executive, told Recruiter: “The stability of employment in the airline industry depends on the same indicators for all other sectors of tourism and travel.

“There will be a definite improvement in the recruitment industry if the decision makers start to move forward and stop looking back.”

Ian Brooks, director at Gail Kenny Executive Search, told Recruiter: “The good news is that the fuel hike has returned to more normal levels, but the bad news is that Willie Walsh has admitted that there is no sign of the business and first class traffic returning. He doesn’t see any ‘green shoots’.

“The result of this has to spell bad news for jobs within BA. They are asking for staff to take unpaid leave and pay freezes, but its more than likely that further redundancies will be announced in the near feature.”