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American flight controllers are increasingly looking for second jobs and reporting ill, as they remain on duty without pay during the government shutdown, the transport chief has announced.

"The controllers are wearing thin," the official 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 instructed to keep doing their jobs uncompensated.

But a number have been absent, causing airports to halt or reduce their flight operations, which has exacerbated setbacks caused by climate and other issues.

Over 3,000 American flights were delayed on the weekend, and the secretary said he anticipates the circumstances to grow worse.

"I am seeing the stress," he said in an discussion on Sunday Morning Futures, noting that he had met with multiple professionals to listen to their worries directly.

"They are pursuing second jobs, they're out there looking, 'Should I work for Uber, am I able to secure another source of earnings to make ends meet?'" he continued.

The secretary further mentioned that on the previous day twenty-two notifications at airfields indicated travel would be delayed due to a shortage of workers - among the peak after the shutdown started.

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

Duffy has repeatedly warned that aviation regulators would reduce the number of aircraft in the sky if there is a shortage of security staff.

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

"I need my staff focused on the flight paths, not on the monetary matters at home," the official stated.

On that day, certain flights were stopped at LAX due to staffing shortages, causing interruption at the fifth-busiest terminal in the country and among the most crowded in the world, as well as additional travel extending north to the city of Oakland.

The FAA alert went out at 08:45 in the morning on Sunday. Many flights were operating normally by midday.

Flights at Newark Airport, however, were postponed an average of over an hour due to staffing shortages, and the authority said DFW, the second most active airport in the US, could encounter problems from reduced staff in the afternoon.

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

The situation comes ahead of Game 3 of the championship, which is due to be played in LA on Monday night, 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 2019. At the time, the halt had reached its fifth week and disrupted airline operations, including aviator instruction.

It prompted several air traffic controllers to stay home on the identical date on 25 January 2019, temporarily stopping travel at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

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