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US air traffic controllers are more and more seeking additional employment and calling in sick, as they continue to work unpaid during the federal closure, the transportation secretary has stated.

"These professionals are wearing thin," Sean Duffy told Fox News on the weekend, as some flights were grounded on the Californian coast due to staffing shortages.

After the federal closure on October 1st, air traffic controllers, who are deemed essential workers, were told to keep doing their duties without pay.

But some have been missing, causing terminals to halt or reduce their flight operations, which has added to setbacks due to weather and additional factors.

Over 3,000 US flights were postponed on the weekend, and Duffy said he expects the circumstances to grow worse.

"I observe the pressure," he said in an interview on Sunday Morning Futures, adding that he had met with several controllers to listen to their concerns firsthand.

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

Duffy added that on Saturday twenty-two notifications at airfields said travel would be held up due to a shortage of workers - among the peak since the shutdown started.

The US government shutdown entered its twenty-sixth day on Sunday, rendering it the second most extended shutdown in history.

Duffy has consistently cautioned that flight authorities would slow down the number of planes in the air if there is a shortage of safety personnel.

In his conversation, he declined to respond directly when asked if it was safe to fly in the United States, and instead issued a personal plea to controllers.

"I require my staff focused on the flight paths, not on the monetary matters at home," Duffy said.

On Sunday, some planes were grounded at LAX due to staffing shortages, leading to interruption at the fifth most active terminal 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 Federal Aviation Administration notice went out at 8:45 AM in the morning on Sunday. Many flights were back on schedule before noon.

Flights at Newark Airport, though, were postponed an average of 82 minutes due to staffing shortages, and the authority said DFW, the second-busiest airport in the US, could experience problems from reduced staff later in the day.

The FAA advised passengers in the state to check with airlines about updated departure times.

The issue precedes the third match of the championship, which is scheduled in Los Angeles on Monday evening, and approximately four weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the busiest periods to fly in the United States.

Pressure on US air travel helped end a federal closure in two thousand nineteen. At the time, the shutdown had reached its fifth week and disrupted flight services, including aviator instruction.

It prompted several air traffic controllers to stay home on the same day on 25 January 2019, temporarily stopping movement at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

That same day, Donald Trump, who at the period was in his first term as leader, agreed to sign a temporary funding measure, bringing an end to the government shutdown after 35 days.