their noses at the $30,000 salary offer.

And although Airport contractor Serco Aviation Services Inc. promised to review the salary, no decision has been made as the June 1 date for Bermuda to take over air operations from the US Navy draws near.

Successful applicants are due to leave the Island for training on May 13, still not knowing what they will be paid if and when they qualify.

Yesterday, Serco's project manager Mr. Don Parrish said the salaries would be adjusted, but only slightly. "It will be very close to what we're offering right now,'' he said. "There's not going to be any substantial increase.'' The Royal Gazette has also learned that: Five non-Bermudian air traffic controllers brought in from Canada will each be paid $45,000, plus a housing allowance of about $1,400 a month; Government Airport workers called "communicators'' who help landed aircraft to park are paid $44,562 a year -- nearly $15,000 more than the Bermudian air traffic controllers will receive; and Not all the Bermudians who successfully complete their overseas training will be assured a job. Present plans are to send away five candidates, but hire only four.

Bermudian Mr. Frank Mendonca, an assistant air traffic controller at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, said he had hoped to return to his birthplace to start "a career'' at the Airport.

When Serco offered him the job as one of its top candidates, it was not just the salary that concerned him, he said. Although he arranged to get a leave of absence from his present employer, Serco insisted that he quit, despite the fact he had no guarantee he would be taken on after training.

Mr. Parrish confirmed the story. Serco wanted people who were "hungry'' as they went through a tough 14-week training course at Bailbrook College in England. Mr. Mendonca "wanted a little bit too much protection,'' he said.

By June 1, 1999, the Bermudians are to be making $45,000. But the $30,000 is not for trainees. It is the starting salary once the Bermudians are ready to land incoming aircraft.

"There's absolutely no way you can look a qualified air traffic controller in the face and pay him that much money,'' said another top Bermudian applicant who turned down the offer. "Somewhere along the line, something is not right.'' The 27-year-old has dreamed of getting into aviation but declined the job offer because "it would mean a tremendous cut in pay from what I am already earning.'' He felt a starting controller should earn $42,000 to $45,000 a year.

At a rural tower in Arizona, $30,000 would be acceptable, he said. But Bermudian controllers would be handling 747s and other commercial aircraft carrying hundreds of passengers.

Mr. Parrish said Bermuda's tower was not a busy one, and the Bermudians who worked inside it would only have to learn visual control, rather than instrument control, of incoming aircraft. Salaries started at about $30,000 at equivalent towers in Canada, he said.

While he was unhappy with Serco, the Bermudian applicant was also critical of Government, which awarded the Canadian company the contract, which is worth more than $20 million over five years.

"I think the Government should have reviewed the pay scales more properly and been more aware of what the role of an air traffic controller is,'' he said.

As well as the five Canadians who will work with the Bermudians, Serco has hired two qualified air traffic controllers who are spouses of Bermudians.

While each of the qualified controllers will be paid $45,000, Mr. Parrish confirmed that only the Canadians will be given a housing allowance, which would be roughly equal to 38 percent of their salaries.

"These are short-term jobs,'' he said. "It's to compensate, really, for the fact most of them have left other positions to come here.'' As a Bermudian living abroad, Mr. Mendonca, 43, said he did not understand why he could not be offered housing on the base, or a housing allowance, as the Canadians received.

"I'm very disappointed that things didn't work out,'' he said.

Of the top five applicants, only three accepted jobs, Mr. Parrish said.

Drawing on four other candidates who were ranked lower, he hoped to have the final two positions filled by the end of next week, when the final salary details would also be known.

Applicants reject $30,000 salaries "I'm concerned about the quality of people that Serco's going to wind up getting,'' said an applicant who turned down the $30,000 salary. "How far down are they going to go on the list? "Unfortunately, the people who are highly qualified are going to be left without a job.'' But Mr. Parrish said Serco was "thrilled'' by the quality of applicants, who had higher levels of education, work experience, and salary expectations than expected.

A sore point, even with controllers who accepted the offer, is the fact that six Government "communicators'' who work in the small tower above the Civil Air Terminal will be earning much higher salaries than they will.

Communicators, who direct planes that have already landed to their gates, have a PS 23 pay scale, earning $44,562 a year.

"How can you justify the guy giving you the bricks to lay making more money than you are at laying them?'' asked one applicant.

Mr. Parrish said communicators had other duties and many years of experience.

However, "if they were starting with Serco, and starting new, I would see that the air traffic controller made the higher salary''.

Airport manager Mr. Jack Gordon said the role of communicators was being reviewed as part of the Bermudian takeover of US Navy responsibilities. No jobs were threatened, but their roles could change, he said.

Management and Technology Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons, who has responsibility for the Bases, said no-one should compare Government jobs with the private sector.

"Value for money'' was a key reason Bermuda used the "contract approach'' in running the Airport, and there was a fine line to balance in setting the salaries, he said.

A committee chaired by assistant Cabinet Secretary Mr. John Drinkwater recently gathered information and presented Serco a report on the salary dispute, but "it's basically Serco's call,'' Dr. Gibbons said.

Of the five Bermudians who leave to train in England on May 13, one may still be left without a job. Currently, Serco was only planning to keep four, but "we will assess that situation over the next number of months,'' Mr. Parrish said. "There may be a requirement to keep five.''