🔗 Share this article

American flight controllers are increasingly looking for second jobs and reporting ill, as they continue to work unpaid during the government shutdown, the transportation secretary has announced.

"The controllers are becoming strained," Sean Duffy informed Fox News on Sunday, as some flights were halted on the Californian coast due to staffing shortages.

Following the federal closure on October 1st, flight controllers, who are deemed critical staff, were instructed to continue performing their duties without pay.

But some have been absent, leading terminals to stop or slow their plane traffic, which has added to delays due to weather and other issues.

More than three thousand American flights were delayed on Sunday, and Duffy said he anticipates the circumstances to deteriorate further.

"I observe the stress," Duffy said in an interview on Sunday Morning Futures, noting that he had spoken to multiple professionals to hear their worries firsthand.

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

Duffy added that on Saturday twenty-two notifications at airports said flights would be delayed due to a lack of workers - among the peak since the closure began.

The American federal closure reached its 26th day on Sunday, rendering it the second most extended shutdown in history.

Duffy has repeatedly warned that aviation regulators would slow down the number of planes in the air if there is a shortage of safety personnel.

In his interview, he would not answer straightforwardly when asked if it was secure to travel by air in the US, and instead issued a direct appeal to the professionals.

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

On Sunday, some planes were grounded at Los Angeles International Airport due to employee deficits, leading to interruption at the fifth most active terminal in the nation and among the most crowded in the globe, as well as other flights stretching upward to the city of Oakland.

The FAA notice was issued at 08:45 in the morning on the weekend. Numerous trips were back on schedule before noon.

Flights at Newark Liberty International Airport, though, were delayed an mean of over an hour due to staffing shortages, and the FAA indicated Dallas Fort-Worth, the second most active airport in the country, could encounter difficulties from reduced staff later in the day.

The agency warned passengers in California to consult airlines about revised departure times.

The situation comes ahead of the third match of the World Series, which is scheduled 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 helped end a government shutdown in 2019. At the time, the shutdown had reached its fifth week and disrupted airline operations, including aviator instruction.

It led a number of air traffic controllers to remain absent on the same day on 25 January 2019, briefly halting travel at New York's LaGuardia airport.

On that date, Donald Trump, who at the time was in his initial presidency as leader, consented to approve a temporary funding measure, effectively ending the federal closure after thirty-five days.