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

"These professionals are becoming strained," the official informed a news outlet on Sunday, as some flights were grounded on the California shoreline due to personnel deficits.

After the government shut down on October 1st, air traffic controllers, who are considered critical staff, were instructed to keep doing their duties uncompensated.

But a number have been missing, leading terminals to halt or reduce their plane traffic, which has added to delays caused by climate and additional factors.

Over three thousand US flights were delayed on Sunday, and the secretary said he expects the situation to deteriorate further.

"I am seeing the pressure," he said in an discussion on a weekend program, noting that he had met with several controllers to hear their worries firsthand.

"They are pursuing side jobs, they're out there looking, 'Can I drive Uber, can I secure an alternative of income to cover expenses?'" he added.

The secretary further mentioned that on Saturday 22 alerts at airfields said travel would be delayed due to a shortage of employees - one of the highest after the closure started.

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

Duffy has consistently cautioned that aviation regulators would slow down the quantity of aircraft in the air if there is a deficit of security staff.

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

"I need my staff concentrating on the airspace, not on the monetary matters at their households," the official stated.

On Sunday, certain flights were stopped at Los Angeles International Airport due to staffing shortages, causing disruption at the fifth most active airport in the country and among the most crowded in the globe, as well as additional travel stretching upward to the city of Oakland, California.

The Federal Aviation Administration notice was issued at 8:45 AM in the morning on Sunday. Many flights were operating normally by midday.

Travel at Newark Airport, however, were delayed an mean of over an hour due to personnel issues, and the authority said DFW, the second-busiest airfield in the US, could experience difficulties from low staffing in the afternoon.

The FAA advised passengers in California to consult airlines about revised flight schedules.

The situation comes ahead of Game 3 of the championship, which is scheduled in Los Angeles on Monday evening, and about one month before the Thanksgiving break, among the peak times to fly in the US.

Strain on American aviation helped end a government shutdown in 2019. At the time, the shutdown had reached 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 25 January 2019, briefly halting travel at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

That same day, Donald Trump, who at the time was in his first term as president, agreed to sign a short-term spending bill, bringing an end to the federal closure after thirty-five days.