[QUOTE=WHBM]... customs for example may only be available for limited hours during an airport's operations, which restrict its ability to handle international flights. There are reports of some surprisingly significant airports in the US where overnight international flights arriving early have to sit with all the passengers on board until the customs officers turn up for worrk. /QUOTE]

Heck, try LAX. Got stuck on a plane for almost 45 minutes because we picked up a stronger-than-expected tailwind coming from NRT. The captain announced the "good news-bad news." We got in early but would have to sit out on the ramp as there was nobody there to do Customs and Immigration. We had some pretty irate folks on that old, hot, dirty 747 before they finally let us deplane.

As for the original question, I worked at FAT many years ago - in the 80s. One of my duties on swing shift was to walk through the terminal, sweeping everyone out ahead of me and then lock the terminal - around midnight as I recall. It stayed locked until 4:30 am, when the first PSA flight started prepping for a 6:00 am departure. PSA - those were the days! Remember the Grinning Bird?