Originally Posted by thrust

Only the captain? Not the FO? Does that pilot have to wait for all pax to be off? What if the terminating flight is also the end of a trip- too bad CA, not driving home or commuting home just yet? What if there is another flight scheduled on that aircraft, but the next crew gets delayed or whatever and that flight gets cancelled and that aircraft gets a surprise termination for the night? Do they call in a reserve CA to check the girt bar?

Seems like a lot of loopholes. Pretty silly.