Cynphil, while I can understand the lack of excitement about Qantas' plans, some of your facts are incorrect or out of date.
"The incredible shrinking airline"
The 789 is not replacing a 450 seat aircraft. The 744's seat ~350-360 pax. And as to the increase in pilot numbers, you neglect to include the roughly 200 guys returning from LWOP.
So yes, it's baby steps for the moment but thankfully we have stopped shrinking and we are now slowly growing.
Maybe the glass is actually half full?