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US air traffic controllers are increasingly looking for second jobs and calling in sick, as they continue to work unpaid amid the government shutdown, the transportation secretary has announced.

"The controllers are becoming strained," Sean Duffy informed Fox News on the weekend, as certain aircraft were halted on the Californian coast due to staffing shortages.

Following the government shut down on October 1st, flight controllers, who are deemed essential workers, were told to continue performing their jobs uncompensated.

But a number have been absent, causing airports to halt or reduce their plane traffic, which has added to delays due to weather and additional factors.

Over 3,000 American flights were postponed on the weekend, and Duffy said he expects the situation to grow worse.

"I am seeing the stress," he said in an interview on a weekend program, noting that he had spoken to several controllers to listen to their worries firsthand.

"They are pursuing second jobs, they're out there searching, 'Should I drive Uber, can I find another source of income to make ends meet?'" he continued.

The secretary further mentioned that on Saturday twenty-two notifications at airports said flights would be held up due to a lack of workers - among the peak after the shutdown started.

The American federal closure entered its 26th day on Sunday, rendering it the second most extended shutdown in the past.

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

In his interview, he declined to respond directly when questioned if it was safe to travel by air in the US, and instead issued a personal plea to the professionals.

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

On that day, certain flights were stopped at Los Angeles International Airport due to employee deficits, leading to interruption at the fifth-busiest terminal in the nation and among the most crowded in the globe, as well as other flights stretching upward to the city of Oakland.

The FAA notice was issued at 08:45 in the morning on Sunday. Many flights were operating normally by midday.

Travel at Newark Airport, though, were postponed an average of 82 minutes due to staffing shortages, and the FAA said Dallas Fort-Worth, the second most active airport in the country, could encounter difficulties from low staffing later in the day.

The agency advised travelers in the state to check with carriers about updated departure times.

The situation comes ahead of the third match of the championship, which is scheduled in LA on Monday night, and about one month before the Thanksgiving holiday, among the peak times to travel by air in the US.

Pressure on American aviation helped end a government shutdown in two thousand nineteen. Back then, the shutdown had entered its fifth week and affected airline operations, including pilot training.

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

On that date, the former president, who at the period was in his first term as president, consented to approve a temporary funding measure, effectively ending the federal closure after 35 days.