Spain plans to cut pay of air controllers

Madrid - Spanish Infrastructure Minister Jose Blanco on Tuesday announced plans to cut the pay of the country's air-traffic controllers. Some air-traffic controllers working overtime can earn as much as 900,000 euros (1.3 million dollars) annually.

The average salary is around 350,000 euros - considerably higher than in France or Germany.

Cutting the pay of the 2,400 air controllers to an average of 200,000 euros will make it possible to slash aviation taxes by 15 per cent, making Spain's loss-making airports more competitive, Blanco said.

Even after the cut, the controllers will earn three times as much as doctors and judges and "two and half times as much as this minister," Blanco said.

Despite the pay, the controllers staged a work-to-rule late last year, causing flight delays during the Christmas period.

The controllers said they were working on reduced staff because some of them were sick while others had cut overtime.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/304663,spain-plans-to-cut-pay-of-air-controllers.html.