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US air traffic controllers are more and more seeking second jobs and calling in sick, as they remain on duty without pay amid the government shutdown, the transportation secretary has stated.

"These professionals are becoming strained," Sean Duffy told Fox News on the weekend, as some flights were halted on the Californian coast due to staffing shortages.

Following the government shut down on October 1st, flight controllers, who are deemed critical staff, were instructed to keep doing their jobs uncompensated.

But some have been absent, leading terminals to stop or slow their flight operations, which has added to setbacks caused by weather and additional factors.

Over three thousand American flights were postponed on the weekend, and Duffy said he expects the situation to deteriorate further.

"I am seeing the pressure," he remarked in an interview on a weekend program, adding that he had met with several controllers to listen to their worries firsthand.

"They're taking side jobs, they're out there searching, 'Can I work for Uber, am I able to find another source of income to make ends meet?'" he continued.

Duffy further mentioned that on Saturday 22 alerts at airfields said flights would be delayed due to a lack of employees - among the peak after the shutdown began.

The American federal closure entered its twenty-sixth day on the weekend, rendering it the second most extended shutdown in history.

Duffy has repeatedly warned that flight authorities would slow down the quantity of planes in the sky if there is a shortage of safety personnel.

In his conversation, he would not answer directly when questioned if it was safe to travel by air in the US, and instead made a direct appeal to controllers.

"I require my controllers concentrating on the airspace, not on the finances at their households," the official stated.

On that day, some planes were grounded at Los Angeles International Airport due to staffing shortages, causing disruption at the fifth most active terminal in the country and among the most crowded in the globe, as well as other flights stretching upward to the city of Oakland, California.

The Federal Aviation Administration alert was issued at 08:45 local time on the weekend. Many flights were back on schedule by midday.

Flights at Newark Airport, however, were delayed an average of 82 minutes due to staffing shortages, and the FAA indicated DFW, the second-busiest airport in the country, could encounter difficulties from reduced staff later in the day.

The agency warned travelers in California to check with carriers about updated departure times.

The situation precedes the third match of the World Series, which is scheduled in LA on Monday night, and approximately four weeks prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the busiest periods to fly in the US.

Strain on American aviation helped end a federal closure in two thousand nineteen. At the time, the halt had reached its fifth week and disrupted airline operations, including pilot training.

It prompted a number of air traffic controllers to remain absent on the identical date on 25 January 2019, briefly halting travel at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

That same day, Donald Trump, who at the time was in his first term as leader, agreed to sign a temporary funding measure, effectively ending the federal closure after thirty-five days.