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US air traffic controllers are more and more looking for additional employment and calling in sick, as they continue to work without pay amid the federal closure, the transport chief has stated.

"The controllers are wearing thin," Sean Duffy informed Fox News on the weekend, as certain aircraft were grounded on the Californian coast due to personnel deficits.

After the federal closure on 1 October, air traffic controllers, who are considered essential workers, were told to continue performing their jobs uncompensated.

But some have been absent, leading terminals to halt or reduce their plane traffic, which has added to setbacks caused by weather and additional factors.

Over three thousand American flights were postponed on Sunday, and the secretary said he anticipates the circumstances to grow worse.

"I observe the stress," Duffy remarked in an discussion on Sunday Morning Futures, noting that he had spoken to several controllers to listen to their concerns directly.

"They're taking side jobs, they're out there searching, 'Should I work for Uber, am I able to secure another source of earnings to cover expenses?'" he continued.

The secretary added that on the previous day twenty-two notifications at airports said flights would be delayed due to a shortage of employees - among the peak since the shutdown started.

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

Duffy has consistently cautioned that flight authorities would reduce the number of aircraft in the sky if there is a shortage of security staff.

In his conversation, he declined to respond straightforwardly when questioned if it was secure to fly in the US, and instead issued a personal plea to the professionals.

"I require my staff concentrating on the airspace, not on the finances at home," Duffy said.

On that day, some planes were stopped at Los Angeles International Airport due to staffing shortages, causing interruption at the fifth-busiest terminal in the country and one of the busiest in the globe, as well as additional travel stretching north to the city of Oakland, California.

The Federal Aviation Administration alert was issued at 8:45 AM in the morning on the weekend. Numerous trips were back on schedule before noon.

Travel at Newark Liberty International Airport, though, were delayed an average of 82 minutes due to staffing shortages, and the authority said Dallas Fort-Worth, the second most active airfield in the country, could encounter problems from low staffing in the afternoon.

The FAA advised passengers in the state to consult carriers about updated flight schedules.

The situation comes ahead of the third match of the World Series, which is scheduled in Los Angeles on Monday evening, and about one month prior to the Thanksgiving break, among the peak periods to fly in the US.

Strain on US air travel helped end a federal closure in 2019. At the time, the shutdown had entered its fifth week and disrupted flight services, including pilot training.

It led a number of flight controllers to remain absent on the identical date on January 25, 2019, briefly halting movement at New York's LaGuardia airport.

That same day, the former president, who at the time was in his initial presidency as president, consented to approve a short-term spending bill, bringing an end to the government shutdown after thirty-five days.