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US air traffic controllers are more and more looking for additional employment and calling in sick, as they remain on duty unpaid amid the federal closure, the transport chief has announced.

"The controllers are wearing thin," Sean Duffy informed a news outlet on Sunday, as some flights were grounded on the Californian coast due to staffing shortages.

Following the government shut down on 1 October, flight controllers, who are considered critical staff, were told to keep doing their jobs without pay.

But some have been missing, causing terminals to halt or reduce their plane traffic, which has exacerbated delays due to weather and additional factors.

More than three thousand US flights were delayed on Sunday, and the secretary stated he expects the situation to grow worse.

"I observe the stress," Duffy said in an interview on a weekend program, adding that he had spoken to several controllers to hear their concerns firsthand.

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

Duffy further mentioned that on Saturday twenty-two notifications at airfields indicated flights would be held up due to a lack of workers - one of the highest after the shutdown started.

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

Duffy has consistently cautioned that aviation regulators would reduce the quantity of aircraft in the sky if there is a deficit of safety personnel.

In his conversation, he declined to respond straightforwardly when questioned if it was safe to travel by air in the US, and instead made a direct appeal to the professionals.

"I require my staff concentrating on the airspace, not on the finances at home," Duffy said.

On that day, some planes were stopped at LAX due to staffing shortages, causing disruption 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, California.

The FAA notice was issued at 8:45 AM local time on the weekend. Numerous trips were back on schedule before noon.

Travel at Newark Airport, though, were postponed an average of over an hour due to personnel issues, and the authority said DFW, the second most active airfield in the US, could encounter problems from low staffing in the afternoon.

The FAA warned travelers in the state to check with airlines about updated flight schedules.

The situation comes ahead of Game 3 of the championship, which is scheduled in Los Angeles on Monday night, and about one month before the Thanksgiving break, one of the busiest times to travel by air in the United States.

Pressure on American aviation helped end a federal closure in two thousand nineteen. Back then, the shutdown had entered its fifth week and disrupted flight services, including aviator instruction.

It led a number of air traffic controllers to stay home on the same day on January 25, 2019, temporarily stopping travel at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

That same day, Donald Trump, 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 35 days.