ARLINGTON, Virginia — Hundreds of U.S. air traffic controllers took up temporary second jobs as they missed their first full pay check on Tuesday, mounting pressure on a strained aviation safety system during a prolonged government shutdown, a union official said.

Indeed, the number of controllers working second jobs is set to rise as they look for ways to pay their bills, National Air Traffic Controllers Association President Nick Daniels told reporters at Reagan Washington National Airport.

“It’s quickly going to be 1,000,” Daniels said, urging the government to end the standoff. “We want the shutdown to end today… Whatever way that it gets done, that’s what the American people deserve.”

The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels, with many already working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown.

Thousands of Flights Disrupted Over Past Two Days

Staffing shortages during the 28-day old government shutdown have repeatedly disrupted the aviation industry, with nearly 7,000 flights delayed Monday and 8,800 on Sunday. As of 9:30 a.m. EDT, just over 1,000 flights were delayed.

Roughly 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers must work without pay after a budget impasse between Republican President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats triggered the shutdown.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will hold a press conference Tuesday at New York’s LaGuardia airport to discuss the shortage. He has said controllers are getting jobs delivering food or driving for Uber to make ends meet.

Daniels said the lack of pay was a dangerous distraction and that “every day that this shutdown drags on, the system becomes less safe.”

Frustration Over Delays Pressures Lawmakers to Resolve Issue

Southwest Airlines had 34% of its flights delayed on Monday, while American Airlines had 29%, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking website. For United Airlines, 19% of flights were delayed and for Delta Air Lines, 22%.

The delays and cancellations have frustrated the public and intensified scrutiny of the shutdown’s impact, raising pressure on lawmakers to resolve it.

In 2019, during a 35-day shutdown, the number of absences by controllers and TSA officers rose as workers missed paychecks, extending wait times at some airport checkpoints. Authorities were forced to slow air traffic in New York and Washington.

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(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bernadette Baum)