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US air traffic controllers are increasingly seeking second jobs and reporting ill, as they continue to work without pay amid the government shutdown, the transport chief has announced.

"The controllers are wearing thin," Sean Duffy informed Fox News on Sunday, as some flights were halted on the Californian coast due to personnel deficits.

After the government shut down on October 1st, flight controllers, who are considered critical staff, were told to keep doing their jobs uncompensated.

But some have been absent, leading terminals to stop or slow their plane traffic, which has exacerbated delays caused by weather and additional factors.

Over 3,000 American flights were postponed on the weekend, and the secretary said he expects the situation to grow worse.

"I am seeing the stress," Duffy remarked in an discussion on Sunday Morning Futures, noting that he had spoken to several controllers to listen to their worries firsthand.

"They're taking side jobs, they're out there looking, 'Should I work for Uber, can I secure another source of earnings to cover expenses?'" he added.

The secretary added that on the previous day 22 alerts at airfields said flights would be delayed due to a lack of workers - among the peak after the closure began.

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

Duffy has consistently cautioned that flight authorities would slow down the number of planes in the sky if there is a shortage of security staff.

In his conversation, he declined to respond directly when asked if it was safe to travel by air in the United States, and instead made a personal plea to controllers.

"I need my controllers focused on the airspace, not on the monetary matters at home," Duffy stated.

On that day, certain flights were grounded at Los Angeles International Airport due to employee deficits, leading to disruption at the fifth-busiest airport in the country and among the most crowded in the globe, as well as additional travel extending north to the metropolis of Oakland, California.

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

Flights at Newark Liberty International Airport, though, were delayed an average of 82 minutes due to staffing shortages, and the authority said DFW, the second-busiest airport in the US, could encounter problems from reduced staff later in the day.

The agency advised passengers in California to check with airlines about revised departure times.

The situation comes ahead of the third match of the championship, which is due to be played in LA on Monday night, and approximately four weeks before the Thanksgiving break, one of the busiest times to fly in the US.

Strain on US air travel helped end a federal closure in 2019. Back then, the halt had entered its fifth week and disrupted flight services, including pilot training.

It led a number of air traffic controllers to remain absent on the same day 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, effectively ending the government shutdown after 35 days.