The Federal Aviation Administration has required airlines to cut flights to reduce the strain on air traffic controllers, who have gone weeks without a paycheck.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday that air travel could take “days if not a week" to get back to normal once the government shutdown ends.

Air traffic controllers, along with airport security screeners, are required to work during the shutdown without receiving their regular paychecks. Federal workers will miss their second full paycheck on Monday, according to their union. Some controllers have taken second jobs to make ends meet, union officials have said.

From flying privately to gassing up cars, different ways of getting from one destination to another are quickly being considered.

"If you are flying Friday or in the next ten days and need to be there or don't want to be stranded, I highly recommend booking a backup ticket on another carrier."

A fter more than a month under the mounting pressure of the U.S. government shutdown, the national air-travel system now appears to be in the early stages of collapse with the FAA announcing Wednesday that it intends to reduce airline flights by 10 percent at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports.