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US air traffic controllers are more and more looking for second jobs and reporting ill, as they remain on duty unpaid during the government shutdown, the transportation secretary has announced.

"The controllers are becoming strained," the official informed Fox News on the weekend, as some flights were halted on the Californian coast due to staffing shortages.

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

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

More than three thousand American flights were delayed on the weekend, and the secretary said he anticipates the situation to grow worse.

"I observe the stress," Duffy said in an interview on a weekend program, noting that he had met with multiple professionals to listen to their concerns firsthand.

"They are pursuing second jobs, they're out there looking, 'Should I drive Uber, am I able to find an alternative of income to make ends meet?'" he added.

Duffy further mentioned that on Saturday 22 alerts at airports indicated travel would be held up due to a lack of employees - among the peak after the shutdown started.

The US government shutdown entered its 26th 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 would not answer directly when questioned if it was secure to travel by air in the United States, and instead made a personal plea to the professionals.

"I need my staff concentrating on the airspace, not on the monetary matters at home," Duffy stated.

On Sunday, some planes were grounded at Los Angeles International Airport due to employee deficits, leading to interruption at the fifth most active airport in the country and among the most crowded in the globe, as well as other flights extending north to the city of Oakland, California.

The FAA alert went out at 08:45 local time on the weekend. Numerous trips were operating normally by midday.

Travel at Newark Airport, though, were delayed an mean of 82 minutes due to personnel issues, and the FAA indicated Dallas Fort-Worth, the second-busiest airfield in the US, could encounter problems from reduced staff in the afternoon.

The agency warned travelers in the state to consult carriers about revised flight schedules.

The situation comes ahead of Game 3 of the World Series, which is due to be played in LA on Monday evening, and approximately four weeks before the Thanksgiving break, among the peak times to travel by air in the United States.

Pressure on American aviation contributed to ending a government shutdown in two thousand nineteen. At the time, the shutdown had entered its fifth week and disrupted flight services, including aviator instruction.

It led a number of air traffic controllers to remain absent on the same day on 25 January 2019, temporarily stopping travel at New York's LaGuardia airport.

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