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US air traffic controllers are more and more looking for additional employment and reporting ill, as they continue to work without pay during the government shutdown, the transportation secretary has stated.

"These professionals are becoming strained," the official told Fox News on the weekend, as some flights were grounded on the Californian coast due to staffing shortages.

Following the government shut down on October 1st, air traffic controllers, who are considered critical staff, were told to keep doing their duties uncompensated.

But some have been missing, leading airports to halt or reduce their plane traffic, which has added to setbacks caused by weather and other issues.

More than 3,000 US flights were postponed on the weekend, and the secretary stated he anticipates the situation to grow worse.

"I am seeing the pressure," Duffy said in an interview on a weekend program, adding that he had spoken to several controllers to hear their worries firsthand.

"They're taking side jobs, they're out there looking, 'Should I work for Uber, can I secure an alternative of income to cover expenses?'" he continued.

Duffy further mentioned that on Saturday 22 alerts at airfields said flights would be held up due to a shortage of employees - one of the highest since the closure started.

The US government shutdown entered its twenty-sixth day on Sunday, rendering it the second-longest shutdown in the past.

He has consistently cautioned that flight authorities would reduce the quantity of planes in the air if there is a deficit of security staff.

In his interview, he declined to respond directly when questioned if it was safe to fly in the US, and instead issued a direct appeal to the professionals.

"I need my staff focused on the airspace, not on the finances at home," the official stated.

On Sunday, certain flights were grounded at Los Angeles International Airport due to employee deficits, causing disruption at the fifth-busiest airport in the country and among the most crowded in the world, as well as additional travel stretching upward to the metropolis of Oakland, California.

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

Travel at Newark Airport, however, were postponed an mean of 82 minutes due to staffing shortages, and the authority said Dallas Fort-Worth, the second most active airfield in the US, could experience difficulties from low staffing later in the day.

The FAA advised travelers in the state to check with airlines about updated departure times.

The issue comes ahead of the third match of the World Series, which is scheduled in LA on Monday night, and approximately four weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the busiest periods to travel by air in the US.

Pressure on US air travel contributed to ending a federal closure in two thousand nineteen. At the time, the halt had reached its fifth week and disrupted airline operations, including pilot training.

It prompted a number of flight controllers to stay home on the same day on 25 January 2019, temporarily stopping travel at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

That same day, the former president, who at the period was in his first term as president, consented to approve a temporary funding measure, bringing an end to the federal closure after 35 days.