His Brawl dair still spikes at the very beginning, just like every other spike in the game. His fair hits behind him, sends you on a very bad recovery trajectory (but Brawl's floatiness somewhat negates this), his reflector isn't as good but it's not terrible.
His new additions- chainthrow that can lead to death, improved recovery (thanks to Brawl's engine), spammy neutral a, laser-lock, fantastic side-b, dash attack => usmash combo, and a few other additions. Also, he does extremely well against the other high-tier characters.
Falco is way different, that's true. Don't expect to pillar anyone. But if you play him as a BRAWL character and not try to make him into his Melee counterpart, you'll find that they've actually made him better.
Here are the results from Critical Hit 3, a national tournament held in Maryland on Saturday. Look at what place the Falco main finished.: