Many of the Netherlands’ air traffic controllers are threatening to leave the country if the government goes ahead with plans to reform public sector pay, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.

The government wants to limit public sector salaries to that of a minister by 2017. Ministers currently earn around €144,000 a year. But around half of the country’s 225 air traffic controllers earn more than that, meaning they face a cut in pay.

The air traffic controllers’ organisation VNLG has now written to junior infrastructure minister Wilma Mansveld warning her of the consequences, the Volkskrant reports.

It points out that in countries like Saudi Arabia, controllers earn twice as much as they do in the Netherlands. If Dutch salaries are cut, the idea of moving will be ‘very attractive’, the organisation says.