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American flight controllers are increasingly looking for second jobs and calling in sick, as they continue to work unpaid during the federal closure, the transport chief has announced.

"These professionals are becoming strained," the official told Fox News on Sunday, as some flights were halted on the Californian coast due to personnel deficits.

Following the government shut down on 1 October, air traffic controllers, who are considered critical staff, were told to keep doing their jobs without pay.

But some have been missing, leading airports to halt or reduce their flight operations, which has exacerbated delays due to weather and additional factors.

More than 3,000 US flights were postponed on Sunday, and the secretary said he anticipates the circumstances to deteriorate further.

"I observe the pressure," Duffy remarked in an interview on Sunday Morning Futures, noting that he had spoken to multiple professionals to listen to their concerns firsthand.

"They are pursuing second jobs, they're out there searching, 'Can I drive Uber, am I able to find an alternative of income to cover expenses?'" he added.

Duffy further mentioned that on the previous day 22 alerts at airports said flights would be held up due to a shortage of employees - one of the highest since the shutdown started.

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

Duffy has consistently cautioned that flight authorities would slow down the number of aircraft in the air if there is a deficit of security staff.

In his conversation, he declined to respond straightforwardly when asked if it was secure to fly in the United States, and instead issued a personal plea to controllers.

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

On Sunday, some planes were stopped at LAX due to employee deficits, leading to disruption at the fifth-busiest terminal in the nation and among the most crowded in the globe, as well as additional travel extending upward to the metropolis of Oakland.

The FAA alert went out at 8:45 AM local time on the weekend. Numerous trips were back on schedule by midday.

Travel at Newark Airport, however, were postponed an average of 82 minutes due to personnel issues, and the FAA said Dallas Fort-Worth, the second most active airfield in the country, could experience problems from low staffing later in the day.

The agency advised travelers in the state to check with airlines about revised flight schedules.

The issue comes ahead of Game 3 of the World Series, which is due to be played in LA on Monday evening, and approximately four weeks before the Thanksgiving break, among the peak times to travel by air in the United States.

Pressure on US air travel helped end a government shutdown in 2019. At the time, the shutdown had reached its fifth week and affected airline operations, including aviator instruction.

It prompted several air traffic controllers to remain absent on the same day on January 25, 2019, temporarily stopping travel at New York's LaGuardia airport.

On that date, Donald Trump, who at the period was in his initial presidency as president, agreed to sign a temporary funding measure, bringing an end to the government shutdown after thirty-five days.