What you fail to note is that by flying an Aussie airline, you get stuck with Australian "customer service" - which is lacking, in my opinion (and not just in the airline industry...pretty much every form of retail/consumer goods). While VAustralia/Virgin Australia (no longer Virgin Blue) has that flashy new "we're young, hot, and fun to travel" approach, they are absolutely AWFUL when it comes to irops or any other issues. Head over to the Virgin Australia board for more info on that - but if anything were to happen (mechanical, late flight..etc); you're normally SOL. Delta, on the other hand, does deal with this in a much better fashion. Quantas isnt much better - although they have a network which allows them to deal with IROPS better.

And while Aussies travel a lot - all that means is that you get even MORE kettles (the Aussie type...whom many Aussies refer to as Bogans) which I feel can sometime make the travel process even more painful. While I understand trying to highlight the fact that some of the Aussies maybe more fun to talk to...lets be honest, the OP is not going to be talking to the entire plane and starting up a social bonanza. They'll be sitting at their seat, most likely sleeping...so the only interaction with the guests that are important is how loud and obnoxious they are, how many kettles, and how much are they going to back up the lines to board when shoving their crap into the bins and how long the lines to the bathrooms are. Besides, Delta flights, while normally 80% American staffed (they do have a few Aussie flight attendants), are starting to get a mixture of both Australian and American passengers now.

To each their own, but I've been doing this flight for two and a half years now...and done it about 10 times. Tried V Australia once, but have since stuck to Delta. Hard product doesn't vary that much, and I know what to expect from a customer service standpoint.