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US air traffic controllers are increasingly seeking second jobs and reporting ill, as they remain on duty without pay amid the government shutdown, the transport chief has announced.

"The controllers are becoming strained," Sean Duffy informed Fox News on the weekend, as some flights were grounded on the Californian coast due to personnel deficits.

After the government shut down on 1 October, air traffic controllers, who are considered essential workers, were instructed to continue performing their jobs uncompensated.

But some have been missing, causing terminals to stop or slow their flight operations, which has exacerbated setbacks due to weather and other issues.

More than three thousand American flights were delayed on Sunday, and the secretary stated he anticipates the circumstances to deteriorate further.

"I am seeing the stress," Duffy remarked in an discussion on Sunday Morning Futures, adding that he had met with several controllers to hear their worries directly.

"They're taking side jobs, they're out there searching, 'Can I work for Uber, can I secure an alternative of earnings to make ends meet?'" he added.

The secretary added that on the previous day twenty-two notifications at airports indicated flights would be held up due to a lack of workers - one of the highest since the shutdown started.

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

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

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

"I need my controllers focused on the flight paths, not on the monetary matters at their households," Duffy said.

On that day, some planes were grounded at Los Angeles International Airport 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 additional travel stretching north to the city of Oakland, California.

The FAA notice went out at 8:45 AM local time on Sunday. Many flights were back on schedule by midday.

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

The agency advised travelers in California to consult airlines about updated departure times.

The issue precedes Game 3 of the championship, which is scheduled in LA on Monday night, and approximately four weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the busiest times to travel by air in the US.

Pressure on American aviation helped end a federal closure in two thousand nineteen. Back then, the halt had reached its fifth week and affected flight services, including aviator instruction.

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

That same day, Donald Trump, who at the time was in his first term as president, consented to approve a temporary funding measure, effectively ending the federal closure after 35 days.