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US air traffic controllers are more and more seeking second jobs and reporting ill, as they remain on duty without pay amid the government shutdown, the transport chief has stated.

"The controllers are wearing thin," the official informed a news outlet on Sunday, 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 deemed essential workers, were told to keep doing their duties without pay.

But some have been missing, causing airports to halt or reduce their flight operations, which has added to delays caused by climate and additional factors.

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

"I am seeing the pressure," he said in an discussion on Sunday Morning Futures, noting that he had spoken to multiple professionals to listen to their concerns directly.

"They are pursuing side jobs, they're out there looking, 'Can I work for Uber, am I able to secure an alternative of income to make ends meet?'" he added.

Duffy further mentioned that on the previous day 22 alerts at airfields said travel would be held up due to a shortage of employees - among the peak after the shutdown started.

The US government shutdown reached its twenty-sixth day on Sunday, making it the second-longest shutdown in the past.

He has repeatedly warned that aviation regulators would slow down the number of aircraft in the sky if there is a shortage of security staff.

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

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

On Sunday, certain flights were stopped at Los Angeles International Airport due to employee deficits, leading to disruption at the fifth-busiest terminal in the country and one of the busiest in the world, as well as other flights extending upward to the metropolis of Oakland.

The Federal Aviation Administration alert went out at 8:45 AM in the morning on the weekend. Numerous trips were back on schedule before noon.

Flights at Newark Airport, though, were postponed an average of 82 minutes due to staffing shortages, and the authority said DFW, the second most active airport in the country, could encounter problems from reduced staff in the afternoon.

The FAA warned passengers in the state to check with airlines about revised flight schedules.

The issue comes ahead of the third match of the World Series, which is scheduled in Los Angeles on Monday night, and approximately four weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the busiest times to fly in the United States.

Strain on US air travel contributed to ending a government shutdown in 2019. Back then, the halt had entered its fifth week and disrupted flight services, including pilot training.

It led several flight controllers to stay home on the same day on January 25, 2019, temporarily stopping movement at New York's LaGuardia airport.

On that date, Donald Trump, who at the time was in his first term as leader, agreed to sign a short-term spending bill, bringing an end to the government shutdown after thirty-five days.