🔗 Share this article

US air traffic controllers are more and more looking for second jobs and reporting ill, as they remain on duty without pay amid the federal closure, the transport chief has announced.

"These professionals are becoming strained," Sean Duffy told a news outlet on the weekend, as certain aircraft were halted on the California shoreline due to staffing shortages.

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

But some have been missing, leading airports to halt or reduce their flight operations, which has exacerbated setbacks caused by climate and other issues.

Over three thousand US flights were postponed on the weekend, and the secretary said he expects the situation to grow worse.

"I observe the stress," he remarked in an interview on Sunday Morning Futures, adding that he had met with several controllers to listen to their worries directly.

"They're taking second jobs, they're out there looking, 'Can I drive Uber, am I able to find an alternative of income to cover expenses?'" he continued.

Duffy further mentioned that on the previous day twenty-two notifications at airfields said flights would be delayed due to a shortage of employees - among the peak after the shutdown began.

The US government shutdown reached its twenty-sixth day on the weekend, making it the second most extended halt in history.

Duffy has repeatedly warned that aviation regulators would reduce the quantity of planes in the sky if there is a deficit of security staff.

In his interview, he declined to respond straightforwardly when asked if it was secure to fly 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 their households," Duffy said.

On that day, some planes were grounded at LAX due to employee deficits, leading to disruption at the fifth most active airport in the nation and among the most crowded in the world, as well as additional travel extending upward to the metropolis of Oakland.

The FAA notice was issued at 08:45 in the morning on Sunday. Numerous trips were back on schedule by midday.

Travel at Newark Liberty International Airport, though, were delayed an mean of 82 minutes due to staffing shortages, and the authority indicated DFW, the second most active airfield in the country, could encounter problems from low staffing in the afternoon.

The agency advised travelers in the state to check with carriers about revised departure times.

The issue precedes the third match of the championship, which is due to be played in LA on Monday evening, and approximately four weeks prior to the Thanksgiving break, among the peak times to travel by air in the United States.

Pressure on US air travel helped end a federal closure in 2019. Back then, the halt had reached its fifth week and disrupted flight services, including pilot training.

It prompted a number of flight controllers to remain absent on the identical date on 25 January 2019, temporarily stopping travel at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

That same day, the former president, who at the period was in his initial presidency as leader, agreed to sign a short-term spending bill, effectively ending the federal closure after thirty-five days.