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US air traffic controllers are more and more seeking second jobs and reporting ill, as they remain on duty without pay during the government shutdown, the transportation secretary has announced.

"The controllers are becoming strained," Sean Duffy informed a news outlet on Sunday, as certain aircraft were grounded on the Californian coast due to personnel deficits.

After the government shut down on 1 October, air traffic controllers, who are considered critical staff, were told to keep doing their jobs without pay.

But a number have been absent, leading airports to halt or reduce their flight operations, which has added to setbacks due to weather and additional factors.

Over 3,000 American flights were postponed on the weekend, and Duffy said he anticipates the situation to deteriorate further.

"I am seeing the stress," he said in an interview on Sunday Morning Futures, adding that he had met with multiple professionals to listen to their concerns firsthand.

"They are pursuing side jobs, they're out there looking, 'Can I work for Uber, can I find another source of earnings to make ends meet?'" he added.

Duffy added that on Saturday 22 alerts at airports indicated travel would be delayed due to a shortage of workers - among the peak since the shutdown started.

The American federal closure reached its twenty-sixth day on the weekend, making it the second most extended halt in the past.

He has repeatedly warned that aviation regulators would reduce the quantity of aircraft in the air if there is a deficit of safety personnel.

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

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

On that day, certain flights were stopped at Los Angeles International Airport due to employee deficits, causing disruption at the fifth-busiest airport in the country and one of the busiest in the world, as well as additional travel extending north to the city of Oakland.

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

Flights at Newark Airport, however, were postponed an mean of over an hour due to staffing shortages, and the authority said DFW, the second most active airfield in the US, could experience problems from low staffing in the afternoon.

The FAA advised travelers in California to consult airlines about revised departure times.

The issue precedes the third match of the World Series, which is due to be played in Los Angeles on Monday night, and about one month before the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the busiest times to fly in the United States.

Pressure on American aviation helped end a federal closure in 2019. At the time, the halt had entered its fifth week and disrupted airline operations, including pilot training.

It led a number of air traffic 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 initial presidency as leader, consented to approve a short-term spending bill, effectively ending the government shutdown after 35 days.