Did CHC - MEL last week with a WLG based NZ crew, and returned last night BNE - WLG with a Freedom crew on NZ metal.

I have to say that one probably wouldn't have noticed the difference - the Freedom crew were good, and the service was excellent - I got my usual 2 + 1 bottles of red, although they ran out of shiraz at the end of the flight.

Still, a great shame that the WLG based NZ crew are being phased out TransTasman- there were a number of very familiar faces over the past few years, and the service has been excellent. I still hope to catch up with them on domestic flights, but 3 - 4 hours is a little different to an hour.

With the reduction in WLG based numbers, lets hope that the familiar faces stay on.