I'd say the OP is spot-on, certainly from my not-infrequent experience.

The average flight may contain a crew from 15 countries who can speak 20 languages but if they all lack motivation it doesn't make for a great effect! And there really is no excuse for the scant regard to consistent cabin safety checks I've observed.

It's also a mystery why they choose to serve breakfast 2.5 hours before a 08:30 Europe arrival or why it takes 2 hours for the meal service on a 22:00 departure to Dubai (both of which are basically 6.5 hour flights).

Imho, KLM delivers consistently better economy class service from Europe to Asia, albeit clearly with far fewer destinations on offer.

I would agree that the service and meals are not as good in Business as when I first started flying with them back in 2003, but still way beyond some other legacy carriers I could mention. Meal service I guess is down to how long it takes to set up and clear. Outbound from Man after pre take off champagne there are usually drinks over the start of the North Sea, with Dinner starting before Dutch Coast with service completed over Slovakia, and of course there is the Bar on the 380. In bound breakfast served when starting to cross German Belgium border and they try to clear before getting to the turn for the North, though I do try to avoid that early morning flight if possible. I have not flown KLM for years, though Mrs Mac was a regular with them in Business on trips to Vancouver on the old MD11, which she really liked, and we still have a fair street of pot Delph Dutch houses somewhere as a result !.

Cheers
Mr Mac

I find Emirates business class good enough - my only problem is in any seat other than an aisle, I have difficulty getting in and out particularly when the seats are in recline. As someone very prone to cramp, that can be problem.

I first flew on EK in 2013 LHR-DXB-PEK//HKG-LHR-DXB. All A380s and all pretty new at the time too, thought the service was excellent, the best airline I had flown on at the time. Didn't think much of DXB, still don't, but the airline was flawless in Y class IMO.

Since then I have flown on many other carriers. I can only really compare them to QR in terms of direct competition, both of which I have used out of EDI on long haul in Y class in the last 12 months. The meals on EK have gone downhill and the overall attitude of the crew on all 4 of my EK flights last month was not great. Smiles were certainly few and far between and the response time to call bells (even outside of meal service times when the crew are not as busy or trying to p
push carts around) left a lot to be desired. QR crew have been the complete opposite. Some of them spoke to me more than my own family did and the service was always top notch. One thing I did like was that the EK IFE featured complete series or several films from the same franchise, where as QR tended to only have random mid-season episodes or the second film out of a trilogy for example. QR had more choice over all though, so it's really just a matter of personal taste. Cabins on QR appear more modern, however I have been on some tired looking 330, 340 and 777s out of DOH too.Both EK 777s I've had out of EDI have been dated, but I've also had a newer 777 on the BKK route, which was nice. EKs 380s are still like new IMO. QR offer more than EK does portion wise and tended to come round more with snacks and refreshments in between meals, although some of the offerings I have had on QR have left me wishing I'd brought my own food, especially when it comes to breakfast, which I think they fail on massively. EK was a lot more palatable when the breakfast service came round.

That said, I do think they have gone down hill. I think perhaps even Finnair offered a better service. EK still beat any US and most European carriers hands down.

I have had a few TK flights this year too, only short haul, but I may be using them for a long haul towards the end of the year, so it will be interesting to compare them. The short haul flights have all been fantastic. Food, baggage and IFE on inter-Europe flights is wonderful. Even on domestic flights inside Turkey a free hot snack and drinks is served in Y, which is very rare these days.