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American flight controllers are increasingly seeking second jobs and calling in sick, as they continue to work without pay during the government shutdown, the transportation secretary has stated.

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

After the federal closure on October 1st, air traffic controllers, who are deemed critical staff, were instructed to keep doing their jobs uncompensated.

But some have been absent, leading terminals to stop or slow their flight operations, which has added to delays caused by weather and other issues.

More than 3,000 US flights were postponed on Sunday, and Duffy said he expects the circumstances to grow worse.

"I am seeing the stress," Duffy said in an discussion on a weekend program, adding that he had spoken to several controllers to listen to their concerns directly.

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

Duffy further mentioned that on Saturday twenty-two notifications at airports indicated travel would be delayed due to a lack of employees - among the peak since the shutdown started.

The American federal closure entered its twenty-sixth day on Sunday, making it the second most extended shutdown in history.

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

In his conversation, he declined to respond straightforwardly when asked if it was secure to travel by air in the United States, and instead made a direct appeal to controllers.

"I require my controllers concentrating on the flight paths, not on the finances at their households," the official said.

On Sunday, some planes 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 globe, as well as other flights extending north to the city of Oakland.

The FAA alert was issued at 08:45 local time on the weekend. Numerous trips were operating normally before noon.

Flights at Newark Airport, however, were postponed an mean of over an hour due to personnel issues, and the authority said DFW, the second most active airfield in the US, could experience difficulties from reduced staff later in the day.

The FAA warned passengers in California to check with airlines about revised flight schedules.

The situation comes ahead of Game 3 of the World Series, which is scheduled in Los Angeles on Monday evening, and about one month before the Thanksgiving break, among the peak periods to fly in the United States.

Pressure on US air travel helped end a federal closure in 2019. At the time, the halt had entered its fifth week and disrupted airline operations, including aviator instruction.

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

On that date, the former president, who at the time was in his initial presidency as president, consented to approve a temporary funding measure, bringing an end to the federal closure after 35 days.