On QF449 SYD > MEL today.
The constant greetings, welcome aboard etc was very different to what I had experienced. Very positive indeed.
And even prior, whilst in the PB line, Nina was dropping the headsets in the grab-tray, she looked up and said to use in the line, "sorry for the wait, we will be boarding in a few minutes". I thought this was strange as normally they dump the headsets into the grab-tray and don't look at the pax in line.
And it felt genuine. May be it was because it was a Sunday afternoon, but it felt like genuine welcoming.
Nina, even went out of her way to say a few words at BP PB scanning at the gate, then again on board stopped by my seat to check everything was ok when I didn't select any food. I saw other crew checking on other pax as well. Very friendly indeed. A bit like when Virgin launched and the crew were enthusiastic.
Admittedly only a short hop Sydney to Melbourne, but if Nina was anything to go by, then a good step in the right direction indeed.