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American flight controllers are increasingly looking for additional employment and reporting ill, as they remain on duty without pay during the federal closure, the transportation secretary has announced.

"The controllers are wearing thin," the official told Fox News on Sunday, as certain aircraft were grounded on the Californian coast due to staffing shortages.

Following the government shut down on October 1st, air traffic controllers, who are deemed essential workers, were instructed to keep doing their duties uncompensated.

But some have been absent, causing airports to stop or slow their plane traffic, which has added to delays due to climate and other issues.

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

"I am seeing the pressure," Duffy remarked in an interview on a weekend program, adding that he had spoken to multiple professionals to listen to their worries firsthand.

"They are pursuing second jobs, they're out there looking, 'Should I work for Uber, am I able to secure an alternative of income to cover expenses?'" he continued.

The secretary added that on the previous day twenty-two notifications at airfields said flights would be delayed due to a shortage of workers - among the peak since the closure began.

The US government shutdown reached its 26th day on the weekend, making it the second most extended shutdown in the past.

Duffy 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 conversation, he would not answer straightforwardly when questioned if it was safe to fly in the US, and instead issued a personal plea to controllers.

"I require my staff concentrating on the flight paths, not on the finances at home," the official said.

On that day, certain flights were grounded at Los Angeles International Airport due to staffing shortages, leading to disruption at the fifth-busiest airport in the country and one of the busiest in the world, as well as other flights extending upward to the city of Oakland, California.

The FAA alert was issued at 08:45 local time on Sunday. Numerous trips were back on schedule before noon.

Flights at Newark Liberty International Airport, however, were postponed an mean of over an hour due to staffing shortages, and the authority indicated Dallas Fort-Worth, the second-busiest airport in the country, could experience difficulties from low staffing later in the day.

The agency advised passengers in the state to consult carriers about updated flight schedules.

The issue comes ahead of Game 3 of the World Series, which is due to be played in Los Angeles on Monday night, and about one month prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the busiest times to travel by air in the US.

Pressure on US air travel helped end a government shutdown in 2019. Back then, the halt had reached its fifth week and affected flight services, including pilot training.

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

On that date, Donald Trump, who at the time was in his initial presidency as president, agreed to sign a short-term spending bill, bringing an end to the government shutdown after 35 days.