BRITISH Airways is not the first international airline to announce job cuts in the wake of the US terrorist attacks.

It is only following the lead of airlines across the Atlantic, which reacted quickly to the terrorist attack just over a week ago.

British Airways' (BA) decision to axe 7,000 staff, including the 1,800 job cuts already announced, leaves workers pondering their future.

BA will cut 400 pilots' jobs, 450 engineers, 850 check-in staff, 2,300 cabin crew and 2,000 administrative posts because of the "exceptional circumstances" it is facing.

The airline will ground 20 aircraft, cut flights by ten per cent and lay off contract and agency staff. But it is still unclear if any of the airline's 1,000 call centre staff in Newcastle will be affected.

A BA spokeswoman said that while the headline figures had been announced, it was "time for the airline to discuss with the unions exactly where the cuts will be made".

Meanwhile, US-based United Airlines announced on Wednesday that it was laying off 20,000 workers from its 100,000-strong workforce, after the air attacks involving two of its planes dealt a crippling blow to US air travel.

Its announcement came just hours after rival American Airlines had announced 20,000 job losses.

Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic is also preparing to cut about 1,800 jobs from its operations.

Sir Ken Jackson, general secretary of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union has warned that more than 100,000 airline jobs worldwide may be threatened.

But the saddest loss, to the North-East in particular, is the closure of Gill Airways, despite it having no direct involvement with US flights.

The Newcastle airline, which earlier this year was rescued from receivership, announced yesterday that the Bank of Scotland had withdrawn its banking facilities.

Gill sent home all its 240 staff after announcing the closure.

Chief executive Malcolm Naylor said: "The board is shocked at the decision of the bank, which follows a period of profitable trading since it refinanced the company in April of this year."

The airline had no reason to expect that it would not be able to weather the current uncertainty in the airline industry following events in the US.

Last month, its passenger figures hit an all-time record of 35,000 on its routes between Newcastle, Norwich, Dublin, Belfast and London Stansted.

Christopher Darke, general secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association, said the bank's actions in causing the closure of Gill had been "disgraceful".

He said: "They have pulled the rug from under Gill, blaming the current world airline situation following the US disaster.