the issue of ultimate responsibility by the airline for the actions of its employees.
Personally I think there is an element of truth to that.
What infrastructure does Pac Blue have in place to support the Captains descision to return to the gate if he is not going to be able to comply with the 30 minute rule by 30 seconds?
Has the company planned for that inevitable scenario or is it just accepted that when it happens it will be a total cluster with inadequate representation on the ground, no preffered hotels organised , no transport to said hotels organised etc etc? If that is the case human nature will eventualy win over and the 30 seconds be ignored.
If the Captain had dumped those pax into that situation would the company have contacted him saying 'Good on you sir, well done on maintaining our standards by adhereing to our rules' or would operations have gone into a flat spin passing the companies problems onto him with questions like 'well what the hell are we going to do with all these pax tonight? Queenstown is full up and the bus companies can't help blah blah blah"
Ultimately a Captain will be above these pressures but that is in a perfect world. In todays environment with accountants reaching right into the flight deck and trying to fly the aircraft for you it is inevitable that not everyone will stick to their guns.