Engine abuse?
At Gatwick where I work an A319 stopped on stand and shut down the engines but unfortunately stopped a little short and the jetbridge wouldn't fit on. A tug was arranged to pull the aircraft forward into the correct position but instead the flightdeck (helpfully - thanks!) offered to restart the engine(s) and pull forward themselves to avoid the delay waiting for the tug. Is this bad for the engines? Running away at cruise power for an hour or two, shut down, then immediately restarted?
Also I remember hearing a story a while ago of a Quantas 744 that was aiming to set the longest (so far) commercial non-stop flight. Can't remember where from/to. The aircraft was apparently towed into position at the beginning of the runway to save the fuel otherwise used on the taxi out. I'm sure that the time between start up and (I'm sure a high power setting for a heavy, fuel-laden) takeoff would have not been more than a few minutes. Surely cold start to high power can't be good? My Vauxhall Astra certainly doesn't like it....