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American flight controllers are increasingly looking for additional employment and calling in sick, as they continue to work unpaid during the government shutdown, the transportation secretary has announced.

"These professionals are wearing thin," the official informed Fox News on the weekend, as certain aircraft were grounded on the Californian coast due to staffing shortages.

After the government shut down on 1 October, air traffic controllers, who are deemed essential workers, were instructed to continue performing their duties without pay.

But a number have been missing, causing airports to stop or slow their flight operations, which has added to delays due to weather and other issues.

Over 3,000 American flights were delayed on the weekend, and the secretary stated he expects the circumstances to deteriorate further.

"I am seeing the pressure," he remarked in an discussion on a weekend program, noting that he had spoken to several controllers to hear their concerns firsthand.

"They're taking second jobs, they're out there looking, 'Should I work for Uber, am I able to find an alternative of earnings to make ends meet?'" he continued.

The secretary further mentioned that on the previous day twenty-two notifications at airports indicated flights would be held up due to a lack of employees - among the peak since the closure started.

The US government shutdown reached 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 quantity of planes in the air if there is a shortage of security staff.

In his conversation, he would not answer directly when questioned if it was secure to travel by air in the US, and instead made a personal plea to controllers.

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

On Sunday, some planes were stopped 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 globe, as well as other flights extending north to the city of Oakland, California.

The FAA alert went out at 8:45 AM local time on Sunday. Numerous trips were back on schedule by midday.

Flights at Newark Airport, though, were postponed an average of 82 minutes due to personnel issues, and the FAA said Dallas Fort-Worth, the second most active airfield in the US, could encounter problems from reduced staff later in the day.

The FAA advised travelers in the state to check with airlines about revised departure times.

The issue comes ahead of the third match of the championship, which is due to be played in LA on Monday evening, and approximately four weeks before the Thanksgiving break, one of the busiest periods to travel by air in the United States.

Strain on US air travel helped end a federal closure in 2019. Back then, the shutdown had entered its fifth week and disrupted airline operations, including aviator instruction.

It led a number of flight controllers to remain absent on the identical date on January 25, 2019, temporarily stopping movement at New York's LaGuardia airport.

On that date, the former president, who at the time was in his first term as president, agreed to sign a short-term spending bill, bringing an end to the government shutdown after thirty-five days.