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American flight controllers are more and more seeking additional employment and calling in sick, as they remain on duty without pay during the federal closure, the transportation secretary has announced.

"These professionals are wearing thin," the official informed Fox News on the weekend, as certain aircraft were halted on the California shoreline due to personnel deficits.

After the federal closure on 1 October, air traffic controllers, who are considered essential workers, were instructed to keep doing their jobs without pay.

But some have been absent, leading airports to stop or slow their plane traffic, which has added to delays due to weather and other issues.

Over three thousand US flights were postponed on Sunday, and the secretary stated he anticipates the situation to deteriorate further.

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

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

The secretary further mentioned that on Saturday twenty-two notifications at airfields indicated travel would be delayed due to a lack of employees - one of the highest after the shutdown started.

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

Duffy has consistently cautioned that flight authorities would slow down the number of planes in the air if there is a shortage of safety personnel.

In his conversation, he would not answer straightforwardly when asked if it was safe to travel by air in the United States, and instead issued a personal plea to the professionals.

"I require my controllers focused on the flight paths, not on the finances at home," the official stated.

On that day, some planes were stopped at LAX due to employee deficits, leading to disruption at the fifth most active airport in the nation and one of the busiest in the globe, as well as additional travel stretching upward to the metropolis of Oakland.

The Federal Aviation Administration notice went out at 08:45 in the morning on the weekend. Numerous trips were operating normally by midday.

Travel at Newark Airport, though, were postponed an average of over an hour due to personnel issues, and the FAA indicated Dallas Fort-Worth, the second most active airfield in the US, could encounter problems from low staffing later in the day.

The agency warned passengers in California to check with airlines about updated departure times.

The situation comes ahead of the third match of the World Series, which is due to be played in Los Angeles on Monday night, and about one month before the Thanksgiving holiday, among the peak times to fly in the United States.

Pressure on US air travel contributed to ending a federal closure in two thousand nineteen. At the time, the shutdown had entered its fifth week and affected airline operations, including pilot training.

It prompted a number of flight controllers to remain absent on the identical date on 25 January 2019, briefly halting movement at New York's LaGuardia airport.

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