🔗 Share this article

US air traffic controllers are more and more seeking additional employment and reporting ill, as they remain on duty without pay amid the federal closure, the transportation secretary has announced.

"These professionals are becoming strained," Sean Duffy informed Fox News on the weekend, as certain aircraft were halted on the Californian coast due to staffing shortages.

Following the federal closure on October 1st, flight controllers, who are considered essential workers, were instructed to continue performing their duties uncompensated.

But a number have been absent, causing airports to halt or reduce their flight operations, which has added to setbacks due to weather and additional factors.

Over three thousand American flights were delayed on Sunday, and Duffy said he expects the situation to grow worse.

"I observe the pressure," Duffy said in an interview on Sunday Morning Futures, adding that he had met with multiple professionals to listen to their worries firsthand.

"They are pursuing second jobs, they're out there looking, 'Should I work for Uber, can I secure an alternative of earnings to cover expenses?'" he added.

The secretary added that on Saturday twenty-two notifications at airfields indicated travel would be held up due to a shortage of workers - one of the highest since the shutdown began.

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

He has repeatedly warned that flight authorities would slow down the number of aircraft in the sky if there is a deficit of security staff.

In his interview, 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 need my staff focused on the airspace, not on the monetary matters at their households," the official said.

On Sunday, some planes were stopped at LAX due to employee deficits, causing disruption at the fifth-busiest airport in the nation and one of the busiest in the world, as well as other flights stretching north to the city of Oakland, California.

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

Flights at Newark Airport, however, were delayed an mean of over an hour due to staffing shortages, and the authority said Dallas Fort-Worth, the second most active airfield in the US, could experience difficulties from low staffing later in the day.

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

The situation precedes the third match of the World Series, which is scheduled in LA on Monday evening, and approximately four weeks prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, among the peak times to travel by air in the US.

Pressure on US air travel helped end a federal closure in 2019. At the time, the halt had reached its fifth week and disrupted airline operations, including aviator instruction.

It prompted several flight controllers to remain absent on the identical date on 25 January 2019, temporarily stopping movement at New York's LaGuardia airport.

That same day, Donald Trump, who at the time was in his first term as president, agreed to sign a temporary funding measure, bringing an end to the government shutdown after 35 days.