Smoke and Mirrors
The arguments put forward by Juud and Tightslot in response to the OP are completely disingenuous.
What does the debate about whether or not Emirates receives government subsidies have to do with the customer service offered onboard, which is what jetlaggedpurser was talking about?
I work in the aviation industry, but when I travel as a passenger, I couldn't care less what the airline internal politics are. What I care about, considering I've decided to hand my hard-earned money over to an airline, is a decent and satisfactory service.
I don't travel for work, so in that context I have done a significant amount of flying in the last 12 months, with at least 16 long haul flights, 2 ultra-long haul flights and a handful of short haul flights.
And I can quite honestly say that far and away the best cabin crew and the best service has been on Emirates. No question. Beyond a shadow of a doubt etc etc.
In terms of cabin crew in the last year, I've had good flights as well with Turkish, flyDubai and SAS.
But by far the worst flights with the worst service and least welcoming cabin crew were with BA and Qantas. There's no excuse for unsmiling, unwelcoming and generally cold cabin crew. Whatever happened to professionalism? If people are unhappy in a job, they should get a different job, surely?
The contrast, however, with the generally smiling, friendly, courteous and efficient Emirates cabin crew is marked.