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American flight controllers are more and more looking for second jobs and calling in sick, as they continue to work unpaid amid the federal closure, the transport chief has stated.

"These professionals are wearing thin," Sean Duffy told a news outlet on the weekend, as certain aircraft were halted on the California shoreline due to staffing shortages.

Following the federal closure on 1 October, flight controllers, who are deemed essential workers, were told to keep doing their jobs without pay.

But a number have been absent, causing terminals to halt or reduce their plane traffic, which has exacerbated setbacks caused by climate and other issues.

Over three thousand American flights were postponed on Sunday, and the secretary said he anticipates the circumstances to deteriorate further.

"I am seeing the stress," Duffy remarked in an discussion on a weekend program, adding that he had met with multiple professionals to hear their concerns firsthand.

"They're taking second jobs, they're out there looking, 'Should I work for Uber, can I find another source of earnings to make ends meet?'" he added.

Duffy further mentioned that on the previous day twenty-two notifications at airports indicated flights would be delayed due to a shortage of workers - among the peak since the shutdown started.

The US government shutdown entered its twenty-sixth day on the weekend, rendering it the second-longest halt in the past.

He has consistently cautioned that flight authorities would slow down the quantity of planes in the sky if there is a shortage of security staff.

In his interview, he would not answer straightforwardly when questioned if it was safe to fly in the United States, and instead issued a direct appeal to the professionals.

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

On Sunday, some planes were stopped at Los Angeles International Airport due to employee deficits, causing interruption at the fifth-busiest terminal in the country and among the most crowded in the globe, as well as additional travel extending north to the city of Oakland.

The FAA notice was issued at 08:45 local time on Sunday. Numerous trips were operating normally by midday.

Flights at Newark Airport, however, were delayed an mean of over an hour due to staffing shortages, and the authority said Dallas Fort-Worth, the second most active airport in the US, could encounter problems from reduced staff later in the day.

The agency advised passengers in the state to consult carriers about updated departure times.

The situation comes ahead of the third match of the championship, which is scheduled in LA on Monday night, and approximately four weeks prior to the Thanksgiving break, one of the busiest periods to travel by air in the United States.

Pressure on US air travel contributed to ending a government shutdown in 2019. At the time, the halt had entered its fifth week and disrupted flight services, including pilot training.

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

That same day, Donald Trump, who at the period was in his initial presidency as president, consented to approve a short-term spending bill, effectively ending the government shutdown after 35 days.