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US air traffic controllers are more and more looking for additional employment and reporting ill, as they remain on duty without pay during the federal closure, the transportation secretary has announced.

"These professionals are wearing thin," Sean Duffy informed a news outlet on Sunday, as certain aircraft were grounded on the Californian coast due to personnel deficits.

After the federal closure on 1 October, flight controllers, who are deemed essential workers, were told to continue performing their duties uncompensated.

But a number have been absent, leading terminals to stop or slow their plane traffic, which has added to delays due to weather and additional factors.

More than three thousand American flights were delayed on the weekend, and Duffy said he anticipates the situation to grow worse.

"I am seeing the pressure," Duffy remarked in an interview on Sunday Morning Futures, adding that he had met with several controllers to listen to their worries firsthand.

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

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 began.

The American federal closure reached its 26th day on the weekend, rendering it the second-longest shutdown in the past.

He has repeatedly warned that flight authorities would slow down the number of planes in the sky if there is a deficit of safety personnel.

In his interview, he declined to respond straightforwardly when asked if it was secure to fly in the US, and instead made a direct appeal to controllers.

"I need my staff concentrating on the airspace, not on the finances at their households," Duffy said.

On that day, certain flights were stopped at Los Angeles International Airport due to employee deficits, causing interruption at the fifth most active airport in the country and among the most crowded in the globe, as well as additional travel stretching north to the city of Oakland, California.

The Federal Aviation Administration alert was issued at 08:45 local time on the weekend. Numerous trips were back on schedule before noon.

Flights at Newark Airport, though, were delayed an average of over an hour due to personnel issues, and the FAA said Dallas Fort-Worth, the second most active airfield in the country, could experience difficulties from low staffing later in the day.

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

The issue comes ahead of Game 3 of the championship, which is due to be played in LA on Monday evening, and approximately four weeks prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, among the peak periods to travel by air in the United States.

Pressure on US air travel helped end a federal closure in 2019. At the time, the shutdown had entered its fifth week and affected airline operations, including pilot training.

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

That same day, Donald Trump, who at the time was in his first term as president, agreed to sign a short-term spending bill, effectively ending the federal closure after 35 days.