Originally Posted by
thevagabond
Like I wrote earlier, anyone who critiques a pilot for flipping on the strobes while sitting on the active waiting for departure is a dangerous clown. Mine will always be on. Don't like 'em? Don't look at 'em.
No critique from me. My memory from my pax days at UAL is fading but I think that was procedure at the time. I'd say it's probably the safer option, IMO.
FWIW, FedEx procedures call for wing illumination and taxi light for line up and wait. Forward facing landing lights and strobes once cleared for takeoff. I think we're the minority from what I see around the industry. It seems to come from an over-exuberance directed toward the preservation of night vision (probably started when it was almost exclusively night ops and little to no inbound traffic when we were flying). Old habits seem to die hard there.