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US air traffic controllers are increasingly seeking additional employment and reporting ill, as they remain on duty without pay during the federal closure, the transport chief has announced.

"These professionals are becoming strained," Sean Duffy informed a news outlet on the weekend, as some flights were grounded on the California shoreline due to staffing shortages.

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

But a number have been absent, causing terminals to halt or reduce their plane traffic, which has exacerbated delays caused by climate and other issues.

More than three thousand US flights were delayed on the weekend, and Duffy said he expects the situation to grow worse.

"I observe the pressure," Duffy said in an discussion on Sunday Morning Futures, adding that he had spoken to several controllers to listen to their concerns directly.

"They're taking second jobs, they're out there looking, 'Should I drive Uber, am I able to secure another source of income to make ends meet?'" he continued.

Duffy added that on the previous day 22 alerts at airfields said flights would be delayed due to a shortage of workers - among the peak since the shutdown started.

The US government shutdown reached its twenty-sixth day on the weekend, making it the second most extended shutdown in history.

He has consistently cautioned that aviation regulators would reduce the number of aircraft in the air if there is a shortage of security staff.

In his conversation, he declined to respond directly when questioned if it was safe to travel by air in the United States, and instead issued a direct appeal to the professionals.

"I need my controllers focused on the flight paths, not on the monetary matters at home," the official said.

On that day, certain flights were stopped at LAX due to staffing shortages, causing disruption at the fifth-busiest terminal in the nation and among the most crowded in the world, as well as additional travel stretching upward to the metropolis of Oakland, California.

The FAA alert was issued at 08:45 local time on the weekend. Numerous trips were operating normally before noon.

Flights at Newark Airport, however, were delayed an mean of over an hour due to personnel issues, and the FAA indicated Dallas Fort-Worth, the second most active airfield in the country, could encounter difficulties from low staffing later in the day.

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

The situation comes ahead of Game 3 of the championship, which is scheduled in LA on Monday evening, and about one month before the Thanksgiving break, one of the busiest periods to travel by air in the US.

Strain on American aviation contributed to ending a government shutdown in two thousand nineteen. Back then, the shutdown had entered its fifth week and disrupted airline operations, including aviator instruction.

It led several air traffic controllers to stay home on the same day on January 25, 2019, briefly halting movement at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

That same day, Donald Trump, who at the period was in his initial presidency as president, agreed to sign a temporary funding measure, effectively ending the government shutdown after 35 days.