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American flight controllers are more and more looking for second jobs and reporting ill, as they remain on duty unpaid amid the federal closure, the transportation secretary has stated.

"These professionals are becoming strained," Sean Duffy told Fox News on Sunday, as certain aircraft were grounded on the Californian coast due to personnel deficits.

Following the federal closure on 1 October, flight controllers, who are deemed critical staff, were told to continue performing their jobs uncompensated.

But a number have been missing, causing airports to halt or reduce their flight operations, which has exacerbated setbacks caused by weather and additional factors.

More than 3,000 US flights were postponed on the weekend, and the secretary said he expects the circumstances to grow worse.

"I observe the pressure," Duffy remarked in an discussion on a weekend program, noting that he had spoken to several controllers to hear their worries firsthand.

"They are pursuing side jobs, they're out there searching, 'Can I work for Uber, am I able to find another source of earnings to make ends meet?'" he continued.

The secretary added that on the previous day 22 alerts at airfields said travel would be delayed due to a lack of employees - one of the highest since the closure started.

The US government shutdown reached its 26th day on the weekend, rendering it the second-longest shutdown in the past.

He has consistently cautioned that flight authorities would reduce the quantity of aircraft in the air if there is a deficit of safety personnel.

In his conversation, he declined to respond straightforwardly when asked if it was safe to travel by air in the US, and instead issued a personal plea to the professionals.

"I require my staff focused on the flight paths, not on the finances at home," the official said.

On Sunday, some planes were stopped at Los Angeles International Airport due to employee deficits, leading to disruption at the fifth most active terminal in the country and one of the busiest in the world, as well as other flights stretching north to the metropolis of Oakland.

The FAA alert was issued at 08:45 local time on the weekend. Many flights were back on schedule by midday.

Flights at Newark Liberty International Airport, however, were postponed an average of 82 minutes due to staffing shortages, and the FAA said Dallas Fort-Worth, the second most active airport in the US, could experience difficulties from low staffing later in the day.

The FAA warned passengers in California to check with carriers about revised departure times.

The situation comes ahead of the third match of the World Series, which is due to be played in LA on Monday night, and approximately four weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the busiest times to fly in the US.

Pressure on US air travel helped end a government shutdown in 2019. Back then, the shutdown had entered its fifth week and disrupted airline operations, including aviator instruction.

It led a number of flight controllers to stay home on the same day on January 25, 2019, temporarily stopping movement at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

On that date, the former president, who at the time was in his initial presidency as president, consented to approve a temporary funding measure, bringing an end to the government shutdown after 35 days.