Three and a half years ago, as Americans were still figuring out which presidential candidate to vote for in the 2016 election, the NFL’s 32 team owners voted from four finalist cities to host Super Bowl LIII. They picked Atlanta, a city that can typically handle lots of people coming and going. But the government shutdown has ruffled the town’s Super Bowl game plan.

The up-to-75,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which would open in 2017, was an obvious place to play host to its first Super Bowl, but the choice of Atlanta over Miami, New Orleans and Tampa (which were awarded the following Super Bowls) would looked smarter five weeks ago for a reason that had nothing to do with football.

Atlanta is also home to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest in the world, which handles 270,000 passengers a day – nearly four times the capacity of the stadium. About 125,000 extra passengers are expected to filter into and out of the airport before and after the Super Bowl, with about 110,000 expected to leave the day after the game.

With the government shutdown edging to Super Bowl Sunday on 3 February, and with the Transportation Safety Administration reporting twice as many unscheduled absences among employees who are not being paid, operations even at an airport as large as Atlanta’s could be hampered, and fans could be delayed getting out – or even in.

“We are paying a lot of attention to the political situation that we have no control over,” Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport general manager John Selden said during a talk to an industry group last week, as reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It is very scary to us.”

After TSA officers missed their first paycheck last week, the airport reported security delays of more than one hour, causing some passengers to miss their flights. A bomb threat on Wednesday caused an investigation that delayed flights for 40 minutes.

According to daily figures released by the TSA, travelers at Atlanta airport had the maximum standard wait time – 41 minutes – of any major US airport on Tuesday except Boston Logan Airport, at 42 minutes. The maximum wait time for TSA pre-checked passengers at Atlanta on Tuesday was 19 minutes, longer than any other major US airport.

The National Football League has declined to comment about what contingency measures it would take – if any – to help its fans handle getting in and out of town.

Before the government shutdown, however, TSA had committed to sending additional resources to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport to help with the Super Bowl, an airport spokeswoman told the Guardian earlier this week.

Additional TSA officers, additional overtime hours and an additional K-9 teams have been dedicated to support the increased operations, the spokeswoman said. TSA sent some officers last week. Additional contract security will be used during a 10-day operational period.

“Customer engagement agents” and 1,800 Super Bowl volunteers will be on hand to help passengers navigate the gigantic airport. The Visitors Bureau and Super Bowl Host Committee has already recommended that visitors check out of their hotels five hours before their flights.

(Turn in your rental car four hours before the flight, check your bag three hours before the flight, go through security two hours before the flight and be at your gate one hour before the flight, they said as part of what they call an “aggressive” departure plan.)

According to a spokeswoman from the Visitors Bureau, hotels in the Atlanta area are “essentially sold out,” so it would be difficult for fans holding tickets to the Super Bowl to, say, drive instead of fly to Atlanta and stay an extra night on either side of the game. She added, however, that she has not heard of many fans who have thought about doing that.

It could be worse: The Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee expects about 150,000 fans from out of state will converge upon the city in the week leading up to the game, but Atlanta is one of the top convention cities in the country, routinely hosting meetings of 50,000 or more.

Miami International Airport, in the city where Super Bowl LIV will be played next year, handles about 44m travelers annually, less than half the number of those that use the Atlanta airport, but Tampa International Airport handles 21m travelers, and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport handles only about 12m.

Delta Air Lines, which uses the Atlanta airport as its major hub, expects it passenger traffic the day after the game to be more than 30% above normal. Delta announced Wednesday that it will go into “24-hour mode” after the game, with airport staffing, security and limited food service.

Passengers with tickets for travel the Monday after the Super Bowl can arrive after the game, clear security and head to the concourses. Delta airport employees and its Peach Corps will welcome travelers at concourse “help desks” and provide blankets, pillows and amenity kits.