🔗 Share this article

US air traffic controllers are more and more looking for second jobs and reporting ill, as they continue to work unpaid amid the government shutdown, the transport chief has stated.

"The controllers are wearing thin," the official told Fox News on Sunday, as some flights were grounded on the California shoreline due to personnel deficits.

After the federal closure on 1 October, flight controllers, who are deemed essential workers, were instructed to keep doing their duties without pay.

But a number have been absent, leading airports to stop or slow their plane traffic, which has added to setbacks due to climate and other issues.

Over three thousand American flights were delayed on Sunday, and Duffy stated he expects the situation to deteriorate further.

"I am seeing the pressure," he remarked in an discussion on Sunday Morning Futures, noting that he had spoken to several controllers to listen to their concerns firsthand.

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

Duffy further mentioned that on Saturday 22 alerts at airfields said flights would be delayed due to a lack of workers - one of the highest since the closure began.

The American federal closure entered its 26th day on Sunday, making it the second most extended halt in the past.

Duffy has consistently cautioned that aviation regulators would slow down the quantity of aircraft in the sky if there is a deficit 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 made a direct appeal to the professionals.

"I need my controllers concentrating on the flight paths, not on the finances at their households," Duffy stated.

On that day, certain flights were grounded at Los Angeles International Airport due to employee deficits, causing disruption at the fifth most active airport in the country and among the most crowded in the globe, as well as additional travel stretching upward to the metropolis of Oakland.

The Federal Aviation Administration alert went out at 8:45 AM local time on the weekend. Numerous trips were back on schedule by midday.

Flights at Newark Liberty International Airport, however, were delayed an average of 82 minutes due to personnel issues, and the FAA indicated DFW, the second most active airport in the US, could experience problems from reduced staff in the afternoon.

The FAA advised passengers in the state to check with carriers about updated departure times.

The situation comes ahead of Game 3 of the championship, which is due to be played in LA on Monday night, and approximately four weeks prior to the Thanksgiving break, one of the busiest periods to travel by air in the United States.

Pressure on American aviation helped end a government shutdown in 2019. Back then, the halt had reached its fifth week and affected airline operations, including aviator instruction.

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

That same day, the former president, who at the period was in his first term as leader, agreed to sign a short-term spending bill, effectively ending the government shutdown after 35 days.