Currently if you do not have night flights active the staff return to a staff room (if you have one) and wait until they are needed for the morning flight, would it not make more sense for them to go home at the end of the night and return in the morning.
Why it should be implemented:
Realism, staff dont live at the airport once they are hired
Shifts kind of exist in the current game, with rotational changeover (if you have enough staff) but this could be fleshed out some more, however the staff leaving the airport overnight as well as taking those staff away from pathfinding makes the working patterns more realistic
Definitely, I feel that part of managing a big(ger) airport is people flow, both passenger And staff.
I have another post somewhere detailing what kind of staff and what they would bring to the table.
And with multi level terminals, it means you could actually house those staff without needing a bigger map
A, more could be done that at 4 o’clock of work they made a break to go to the restroom or vending machines. And when there was no work, in the staff room.
But, also, I love your idea.