MADRID, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- A review of airport costs in Spain has revealed salaries of air traffic controllers that a leading newspaper in the country called disgraceful.
An El Mundo editorial called the salaries that often top $1 million a year "scandalous." The Times of London Online reported Monday.
A recent audit of the state-run Aeropuertos Espanoles y Navegacion Aerea found that the average base line salary for some air traffic controllers -- some of them former doctors and lawyers -- was $287,000, but overtime could triple that amount, the newspaper said.
An editorial cartoon depicted Emilio Botin, chairman of Spain's largest bank, studying to become an air traffic controller.
Spain's Development Minister Jose Blanco reported AENA lost $431 million in 2009 and said he intends to trim air traffic control costs by about $18 million next year.
"I have taken the decision to take the bull by the horns and end the privileges of these controllers," Blanco, told members of the Spanish parliament.
The average salary in Spain is $26,020 per year. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero earns $132,329 a year, the newspaper said.
