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US air traffic controllers are more and more looking for additional employment and reporting ill, as they continue to work unpaid during the federal closure, the transportation secretary has announced.

"These professionals are wearing thin," Sean Duffy told a news outlet on the weekend, as some flights were grounded on the Californian coast due to personnel deficits.

After the federal closure on October 1st, air traffic controllers, who are considered critical staff, were instructed to keep doing their duties uncompensated.

But a number have been missing, leading terminals to halt or reduce their flight operations, which has added to delays due to weather and other issues.

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

"I am seeing the stress," Duffy remarked in an discussion on a weekend program, adding that he had met with several controllers to hear their concerns directly.

"They are pursuing second jobs, they're out there looking, 'Can I work for Uber, am I able to find an alternative of earnings to make ends meet?'" he continued.

Duffy added that on Saturday 22 alerts at airports said travel would be held up due to a shortage of employees - among the peak since the closure started.

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

He has consistently cautioned that aviation regulators would slow down the number of planes in the air if there is a shortage of safety personnel.

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

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

On Sunday, certain flights were stopped at LAX due to staffing shortages, causing disruption at the fifth-busiest airport in the nation and among the most crowded in the globe, as well as other flights extending upward to the city of Oakland.

The Federal Aviation Administration alert was issued at 08:45 in the morning on Sunday. Numerous trips were operating normally before noon.

Travel at Newark Airport, though, were postponed an mean of 82 minutes due to personnel issues, and the authority indicated DFW, the second most active airport in the US, could encounter difficulties from reduced staff in the afternoon.

The agency warned passengers in the state to check with carriers about updated departure times.

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 prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the busiest periods to fly in the US.

Pressure on American aviation contributed to ending a federal closure in 2019. At the time, the shutdown had entered its fifth week and disrupted flight services, including pilot training.

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

On that date, the former president, who at the time was in his first term as leader, consented to approve a temporary funding measure, effectively ending the federal closure after thirty-five days.