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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 during the government shutdown, the transport chief has announced.

"The controllers are becoming strained," Sean Duffy told a news outlet on Sunday, as some flights were grounded on the California shoreline due to personnel deficits.

After the federal closure on October 1st, air traffic controllers, who are deemed essential workers, were told to keep doing their jobs uncompensated.

But a number have been missing, causing airports to halt or reduce their plane traffic, which has exacerbated delays caused by weather and additional factors.

Over three thousand American flights were delayed on the weekend, and Duffy stated he expects the circumstances to grow worse.

"I observe the stress," he remarked in an discussion on a weekend program, adding that he had spoken to several controllers to listen to their worries firsthand.

"They are pursuing side jobs, they're out there looking, 'Should I drive Uber, am I able to find an alternative of earnings to cover expenses?'" he continued.

Duffy added that on the previous day 22 alerts at airfields indicated travel would be delayed due to a shortage of employees - among the peak after the closure started.

The American federal closure reached its twenty-sixth day on the weekend, making it the second most extended shutdown in the past.

Duffy has repeatedly warned that aviation regulators would slow down the number of planes in the air if there is a shortage of security staff.

In his interview, he would not answer directly when asked if it was secure to fly in the United States, and instead made a direct appeal to controllers.

"I require my controllers concentrating on the airspace, not on the finances at their households," Duffy stated.

On that day, some planes were grounded at LAX due to staffing shortages, causing interruption at the fifth-busiest airport in the country and among the most crowded in the globe, as well as other flights stretching upward to the city of Oakland, California.

The FAA notice was issued at 08:45 in the morning on the weekend. Numerous trips were back on schedule by midday.

Flights at Newark Airport, though, 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 country, could experience difficulties from reduced staff in the afternoon.

The FAA warned passengers in California to consult carriers about revised departure times.

The issue precedes Game 3 of the World Series, which is scheduled in LA on Monday night, and approximately four weeks before the Thanksgiving break, one of the busiest periods to fly in the United States.

Pressure on US air travel contributed to ending a government shutdown in 2019. Back then, the halt had reached its fifth week and affected airline operations, including pilot training.

It led several air traffic controllers to remain absent on the same day on 25 January 2019, temporarily stopping travel at New York's LaGuardia airport.

On that date, Donald Trump, who at the period was in his first term as leader, consented to approve a short-term spending bill, effectively ending the government shutdown after thirty-five days.