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US air traffic controllers are more and more seeking second jobs and calling in sick, as they remain on duty unpaid during the government shutdown, the transportation secretary has stated.

"These professionals are becoming strained," Sean Duffy informed Fox News on the weekend, as some flights were grounded on the Californian coast due to personnel deficits.

After the federal closure on 1 October, air traffic controllers, who are considered critical staff, were told to keep doing their jobs without pay.

But a number have been absent, leading airports to stop or slow their flight operations, which has exacerbated delays caused by climate and additional factors.

Over 3,000 US flights were delayed on Sunday, and the secretary stated he anticipates the circumstances to deteriorate further.

"I observe the stress," Duffy said in an interview on a weekend program, adding that he had met with multiple professionals to hear their worries directly.

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

The secretary added that on Saturday 22 alerts at airfields indicated travel would be held up due to a shortage of workers - one of the highest since the shutdown began.

The US government shutdown entered its twenty-sixth day on the weekend, rendering it the second most extended shutdown in the past.

Duffy has repeatedly warned that flight authorities would slow down the quantity of aircraft in the sky if there is a deficit of security staff.

In his interview, he would not answer straightforwardly when questioned if it was secure to fly in the US, and instead made a personal plea to the professionals.

"I require my staff focused on the airspace, not on the finances at their households," the official said.

On that day, some planes were stopped at Los Angeles International Airport due to employee deficits, causing disruption at the fifth-busiest airport in the nation and among the most crowded in the world, as well as other flights extending upward to the city of Oakland.

The FAA alert was issued at 8:45 AM in the morning on Sunday. Many flights were operating normally before noon.

Travel at Newark Airport, though, were postponed an average of 82 minutes due to staffing shortages, and the authority indicated DFW, the second-busiest airport in the US, could encounter problems from low staffing in the afternoon.

The agency warned travelers in the state to consult airlines about updated flight schedules.

The issue comes ahead of the third match of the championship, which is due to be played in Los Angeles on Monday evening, and about one month before the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the busiest periods to travel by air in the United States.

Strain on American aviation contributed to ending a government shutdown in two thousand nineteen. Back then, the halt had entered its fifth week and disrupted flight services, including pilot training.

It prompted several air traffic controllers to remain absent on the same day on 25 January 2019, briefly halting movement at New York's LaGuardia airport.

That same day, the former president, who at the period was in his first term as president, consented to approve a short-term spending bill, bringing an end to the federal closure after thirty-five days.