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American flight controllers are more and more looking for additional employment and calling in sick, as they continue to work without pay during the federal closure, the transportation secretary has stated.

"These professionals are wearing thin," the official told 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, air traffic controllers, who are considered critical staff, were instructed to keep doing their duties uncompensated.

But some have been absent, causing terminals to stop or slow their plane traffic, which has exacerbated delays caused by weather and other issues.

Over three thousand US flights were postponed on the weekend, and Duffy said he expects the situation to deteriorate further.

"I observe the pressure," he said in an interview on a weekend program, adding that he had met with multiple professionals to listen to their worries directly.

"They are pursuing second jobs, they're out there searching, 'Can I work for Uber, am I able to secure another source of income to cover expenses?'" he added.

The secretary added that on Saturday twenty-two notifications at airports said flights would be delayed due to a lack of employees - one of the highest after the closure began.

The American federal closure entered its twenty-sixth day on the weekend, rendering it the second-longest shutdown in history.

He has consistently cautioned that flight authorities would reduce the number of aircraft in the sky if there is a deficit of security staff.

In his conversation, he would not answer directly when asked if it was secure to fly in the United States, and instead made a personal plea to the professionals.

"I require my staff concentrating on the flight paths, not on the monetary matters at their households," the official said.

On Sunday, certain flights were grounded at Los Angeles International Airport due to staffing shortages, leading to disruption at the fifth-busiest airport in the nation and one of the busiest in the globe, as well as additional travel stretching upward to the city of Oakland.

The FAA notice was issued at 8:45 AM local time on the weekend. Many flights were operating normally before noon.

Flights at Newark Airport, though, were postponed an mean of 82 minutes due to staffing shortages, and the authority said Dallas Fort-Worth, the second-busiest airport in the US, could experience problems from low staffing later in the day.

The agency advised travelers in California to consult airlines about updated departure times.

The issue precedes the third match of the World Series, which is due to be played in LA on Monday night, and about one month before the Thanksgiving break, among the peak times to travel by air in the United States.

Strain on US air travel helped end a government shutdown in 2019. Back then, the shutdown had reached its fifth week and affected flight services, including aviator instruction.

It prompted several flight controllers to remain absent on the identical date on 25 January 2019, temporarily stopping movement at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

On that date, the former president, who at the period was in his initial presidency as president, agreed to sign a short-term spending bill, bringing an end to the government shutdown after thirty-five days.