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US air traffic controllers are more and more looking for second jobs and reporting ill, as they continue to work without pay during the federal closure, the transportation secretary has stated.

"These professionals are wearing thin," Sean Duffy told Fox News on Sunday, as certain aircraft were halted on the Californian coast due to personnel deficits.

After the federal closure on 1 October, flight controllers, who are considered essential workers, were instructed to keep doing their jobs uncompensated.

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

Over 3,000 American flights were delayed on Sunday, and the secretary said he expects the situation to grow worse.

"I observe the stress," Duffy remarked in an discussion on Sunday Morning Futures, noting that he had spoken to multiple professionals to hear their worries directly.

"They're taking second jobs, they're out there looking, 'Should I work for Uber, can I find another source of earnings to cover expenses?'" he added.

Duffy added that on the previous day 22 alerts at airports indicated travel would be held up due to a shortage of employees - one of the highest after the shutdown started.

The American federal closure reached its 26th day on Sunday, rendering it the second-longest halt in the past.

Duffy has consistently cautioned that flight authorities would reduce the quantity of planes in the air if there is a shortage of safety personnel.

In his interview, he declined to respond directly when asked if it was secure to travel by air in the United States, and instead issued a direct appeal to the professionals.

"I require my staff concentrating on the flight paths, not on the finances at home," the official said.

On that day, some planes were grounded at Los Angeles International Airport due to staffing shortages, leading to interruption at the fifth-busiest terminal in the country and among the most crowded in the world, as well as additional travel stretching upward to the city of Oakland.

The FAA alert was issued at 8:45 AM in the morning on the weekend. Many flights were back on schedule before noon.

Flights at Newark Airport, however, were postponed an average of 82 minutes due to personnel issues, and the authority indicated DFW, the second-busiest airfield in the country, could experience problems from low staffing in the afternoon.

The agency warned passengers in the state to check with carriers about revised flight schedules.

The situation comes ahead of Game 3 of the World Series, which is due to be played in LA on Monday night, and about one month before the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the busiest times to fly in the United States.

Pressure on US air travel helped end a government shutdown in two thousand nineteen. Back then, the halt had reached its fifth week and disrupted flight services, including aviator instruction.

It prompted a number of flight controllers to remain absent on the identical date on January 25, 2019, temporarily stopping movement at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

On that date, the former president, who at the period was in his first term as president, agreed to sign a short-term spending bill, bringing an end to the federal closure after thirty-five days.