Oh and in regard to this:
"everyone remembers the 'rain man' comment."
That film came out eighteen years ago in 1998. A 32yo frequent flier was 14 when it came out ..... and is unlikely to know about it or care.
I don't think Qantas has any commercial advantages for most of the market in relation to safety or perceptions of safety (e.g. That translate into bookings or higher yields). Maybe on some international routes but not domestically or trans Tasman. Even if people were surveyed "who is safer, virgin or Qantas" I doubt that it's going to influence bookings.
I'm going to guess that brand changes are designed to combat the potential negatives of an older, established brand - namely that it isn't seen by some customers as innovative.
Also worth mentioning that all customers are different. I'm sure you can find a demographic that believes Qantas is a trusted, established brand that is regarded as safer, who sees virgin as a young upstart (I'm going to guess Australian born white men aged 50 plus will fall into that category). That's an awesome advantage for Qantas - but that's not who the brand changes are for.