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US air traffic controllers are increasingly seeking additional employment and calling in sick, as they continue to work unpaid amid the government shutdown, the transportation secretary has stated.

"The controllers are becoming strained," Sean Duffy informed a news outlet on Sunday, as certain aircraft were halted on the California shoreline due to staffing shortages.

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

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

More than 3,000 US flights were delayed on Sunday, and the secretary stated he expects the situation to deteriorate further.

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

"They're taking second jobs, they're out there looking, 'Should I work for Uber, can I secure an alternative of earnings to make ends meet?'" he continued.

Duffy further mentioned that on Saturday twenty-two notifications at airports indicated travel would be held up due to a shortage of employees - one of the highest after the closure started.

The American federal closure reached its 26th day on Sunday, rendering it the second most extended shutdown in the past.

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

In his conversation, he declined to respond straightforwardly when questioned if it was safe to fly in the United States, and instead issued 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, some planes were stopped at Los Angeles International Airport due to staffing shortages, causing interruption at the fifth-busiest terminal in the nation and among the most crowded in the globe, as well as other flights extending north to the city of Oakland.

The FAA alert was issued at 8:45 AM in the morning on Sunday. Numerous trips were operating normally by midday.

Flights at Newark Airport, though, were delayed an mean of 82 minutes due to staffing shortages, and the authority indicated DFW, the second-busiest airport in the US, could encounter problems from reduced staff in the afternoon.

The FAA advised passengers in the state to consult airlines about revised departure times.

The situation precedes the third match of the World Series, which is scheduled in LA on Monday night, and approximately four weeks prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the busiest periods to travel by air in the United States.

Strain on American aviation helped end a government shutdown in 2019. Back then, the shutdown had entered its fifth week and disrupted airline operations, including pilot training.

It led several flight controllers to remain absent on the same day on 25 January 2019, briefly halting travel at New York's LaGuardia airport.

On that date, Donald Trump, who at the time was in his first term as president, agreed to sign a short-term spending bill, effectively ending the government shutdown after 35 days.