Atlanta Mayor To Consider Way To Pay TSA Agents Ahead Of Super Bowl 53

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The city of Atlanta is looking at a way to pay TSA employees ahead of Super Bowl 53.

The city of Atlanta is looking at a way to pay TSA employees ahead of Super Bowl 53.

Speaking Wednesday on WBUR’s "Here and Now," Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said the city is working with a credit union and corporate partners to provide loans to TSA agents as many of them are asked to work without pay. 

“We’re having to come up with a plan in real time as people are dealing with the shutdown,” Bottoms said.

She also called this uncharted territory, with unusually high numbers of TSA agents calling out sick.

MORE: TSA Screener Sick-outs Hit 10 Percent Over Holiday Weekend

"We often prepare for natural disasters but when you have a federal shutdown that really is a man-made disaster, this is something we've not had to plan for.”

Super Bowl 53 kicks-off in Atlanta Feb. 3. Bottoms said on average about 70,000 to 80,000 people move through the airport. But, on “Mass Exodus Monday,” the day after the game, they expect upwards of 120,000 people.

Bottoms said on the show to combat that, security lines will open as early as 3 a.m.