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US air traffic controllers are increasingly looking for additional employment and reporting ill, as they remain on duty unpaid amid the government shutdown, the transportation secretary has stated.

"These professionals are becoming strained," Sean Duffy told Fox News on the weekend, as some flights were grounded on the California shoreline due to staffing shortages.

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

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

More than three thousand US flights were delayed on Sunday, and the secretary said he anticipates the circumstances to grow worse.

"I am seeing the pressure," Duffy said in an discussion on Sunday Morning Futures, adding that he had met with multiple professionals to listen to their worries firsthand.

"They're taking side jobs, they're out there looking, 'Should I drive Uber, am I able to secure an alternative of earnings to cover expenses?'" he continued.

Duffy further mentioned that on the previous day twenty-two notifications at airports said travel would be delayed due to a shortage of workers - one of the highest after the shutdown began.

The US government shutdown entered its 26th day on Sunday, rendering it the second most extended shutdown in the past.

He has repeatedly warned that aviation regulators would slow down the number of planes in the sky if there is a shortage of safety personnel.

In his interview, he declined to respond straightforwardly when asked if it was secure to travel by air in the United States, and instead issued a personal plea to controllers.

"I need my staff focused on the flight paths, not on the finances at their households," the official stated.

On that day, certain flights were grounded at LAX due to employee deficits, causing disruption at the fifth most active terminal in the country and among the most crowded in the world, as well as other flights stretching upward to the metropolis of Oakland, California.

The FAA notice went out at 08:45 local time on the weekend. Numerous trips were back on schedule before noon.

Travel at Newark Liberty International Airport, however, were postponed an average of over an hour due to staffing shortages, and the FAA said Dallas Fort-Worth, the second-busiest airfield in the country, could experience problems from low staffing in the afternoon.

The FAA warned passengers in the state to check with carriers about revised departure times.

The issue comes ahead of the third match of the World Series, which is due to be played in LA on Monday night, and about one month prior to the Thanksgiving break, one of the busiest periods to travel by air in the US.

Pressure on American aviation contributed to ending a federal closure in 2019. At the time, the halt had reached its fifth week and disrupted flight services, including aviator instruction.

It led several flight controllers to stay home on the identical date on 25 January 2019, temporarily stopping travel at New York's LaGuardia airport.

On that date, the former president, who at the time was in his first term as president, agreed to sign a temporary funding measure, effectively ending the government shutdown after 35 days.