Here’s a topic that I figured would be interesting to discuss — which airlines have the most consistently excellent flight attendants?
Of course the single most important thing an airline can do is transport you safely between two points, ideally in a timely fashion. However, beyond that, there’s huge variance in the quality of airlines, with service being a major differentiating factor. In this post I’d like to discuss what makes for great inflight service, and which airlines offer the best service. There are no right or wrong answers, but just opinions and experiences.
In this post:
What makes for great inflight service
I’ve written in the past about how I don’t think there are any airlines that consistently offer good service on the ground. The reality is that there are just too many variables, there are a lot of contract workers, etc., so at least I haven’t found any airline where ground service is consistently stellar.
Inflight service is a different story, though. There are some airlines that offer better inflight service than others. If you ask me, there are several major factors that contribute to that:
- Consistency is key, and knowing that you’re going to have a great crew with each flight; some airlines have huge variance in terms of service levels (especially at Gulf carriers), and that’s not ideal
- Flight attendants have to be trained and given the tools to provide a great experience; some airlines invest a lot of money in service training and execution, while other airlines… well, don’t
- Some airlines just don’t really give their flight attendants the chance to shine due to service procedures (for example, I’m thinking of Cathay Pacific’s assembly line-esque approach to business class service)
- There’s no denying that culture also fits into all of this, and there are some countries that just have more customer service oriented cultures than others (in Japan you’ll get great service at a convenience store or at a Michelin-starred restaurant)
- Accountability is important as well, with airlines having a more structured hierarchy of crew generally offering better service than airlines without that, since you have a direct “manager” you’re reporting to
- For global airlines, service experiences can be very different depending on the language you speak, the culture you come from, etc.; awareness and sensitivity to that is important
The airlines with my favorite flight attendants
With the above out of the way, I wanted to share the airlines where I consistently find the flight attendants to be the best.
Let me frame it this way — when I board a flight on these airlines, I know with 99% certainty what level of service I’m going to receive in terms of friendliness, attentiveness, attention to detail, etc. Of course there’s going to be some variability, since we’re all individuals with our own personalities and ways of doing things. But at least I generally know what to expect.
With that in mind, below are my picks, starting with my absolute favorite (and yes, there’s quite a geographic bias here, but I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling this way).
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines is one of my favorite airline brands in the world. What makes the airline so special isn’t the seats or the planes, but rather the staff. In my experience, Singapore Airlines flight attendants just operate on a completely different level.
They have such an incredible eye for detail, so that premium cabin service on the airline almost feels more like a synchronized performance than service. Most impressive of all, Singapore Airlines crews consistently operate at such a high level, all while making it seem completely effortless.
There’s not an airline where I’ve found service to be as consistently great as on Singapore Airlines, and that’s what makes the airline such a pleasure to fly.
EVA Air
Taiwan is a competitive aviation market, and I’d argue that EVA Air is the best of the airlines there in terms of service. I’ve found EVA Air flight attendants to consistently be very detail oriented, friendly, and professional.
While China Airlines and Starlux Airlines also often have great service, it seems to me like EVA Air is a bit more consistent in terms of service delivery. When you add in EVA Air’s excellent soft product (the airline has one of my favorite business class products), flying with the airline is a treat.
Garuda Indonesia
Garuda Indonesia has received many awards over the years for having the world’s best cabin crew, and I’d largely agree. While the carrier’s product has otherwise slipped quite a bit, I’ve found Garuda Indonesia flight attendants to consistently be very friendly and professional. Admittedly that probably largely reflects that Indonesia has a great service culture.
All Nippon Airways & Japan Airlines
Japan has two global airlines — All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines — and I’ve found both airlines to offer perfect Japanese service inflight. I get a bit less excited about service on Japanese airlines for the simple reason that the service level is perhaps less reflective of something special about the airlines, and rather just reflects what’s special about Japan as a country.
Airlines that deserve an honorable mention
I wish I could make a longer list, though the above are probably the only airlines where I’ve consistently had service that I’d consider to be very good. Now, I do want to give a shout out to some other airlines as well:
- Among the “big three” US carriers, Delta has marginally better service than American and United, but the difference isn’t as noticeable as in the past; that’s because the airline also has a ton of new employees since the start of the pandemic
- JetBlue has dedicated flight attendants who work in Mint business class, and I find them to be excellent; however, that’s a subset of flight attendants, rather than all flight attendants at the airline, and even there service isn’t as consistent as it used to be
- Alaska also has above average service in the United States, and I find their crews are a cut above even Delta
- I’ve had some of the best service of my life on Gulf carriers, as airlines like Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar, have some exceptional flight attendants; the issue is that there’s huge variability, and there are also some subpar crews who do a poor job
- In Europe, I’ve found Virgin Atlantic to have the most consistently friendly service, as the flight attendants really do care; they’re not always the most polished, but they try
- Among the major European global carriers, I think Air France flight attendants are probably the best, on balance
Bottom line
Not all airlines are created equal when it comes to service. Admittedly we all have different perceptions of service on various airlines, though personally I’ve consistently had the best experiences on Singapore Airlines, EVA Air, Garuda Indonesia, All Nippon Airways, and Japan Airlines.
I’ve had amazing service on other airlines as well, ranging from Alaska, to Emirates, to Virgin Atlantic, but the issue has been consistency. Of course let me acknowledge the heavy bias toward Asia with my list, and that’s why I’ve added some honorable mentions.
Which airlines do you think have the best flight attendants?
Just flew business on Hawaiian from Seattle to Japan and had a surprisingly good experience. It helped that there were two of us, so the 2-2-2 layout wasn't so bad. And the service was great--warm, friendly, helpful and professional.
My favourite is QR. Today, I have just returned from a short return trip BRU-DOH-DXB in R/A. Again, and as almost always, I greatly appreciated and was impressed by the overall care, friendliness, attention, helpfulness and professionalism of every crew on all segments. I think you should not only factor in the inflight soft product, which is not consistent with QR of course, but also factor in the service and ground experience you receive from...
My favourite is QR. Today, I have just returned from a short return trip BRU-DOH-DXB in R/A. Again, and as almost always, I greatly appreciated and was impressed by the overall care, friendliness, attention, helpfulness and professionalism of every crew on all segments. I think you should not only factor in the inflight soft product, which is not consistent with QR of course, but also factor in the service and ground experience you receive from the staff in the lounges, all staff, not only the people who greet you when entering, the reception collaborators and waiters. The quality of service and consistency at Al Safwa First Lounge is exceptional as well as at both Al Mourjan lounges, although the Al Mourjan Garden Business Lounge now suffers from its popularity and the increase in visitors since the opening of concourses C and D. Nevertheless, QR remains my favourite.
Perhaps if they were called passenger attendants.
I’m probably the least-traveled person on this blog, and all of my flying experience is in Europe & the US in Economy.
Anyway, my top picks are, hear me out, Spirit and Lufthansa. On all my NK flights the crews were friendly, upbeat/cheerful, and happy to be there. I flew on Lufthansa a lot as a little kid, and I remember a lot of cockpit visits & one F/A was kind enough to gift...
I’m probably the least-traveled person on this blog, and all of my flying experience is in Europe & the US in Economy.
Anyway, my top picks are, hear me out, Spirit and Lufthansa. On all my NK flights the crews were friendly, upbeat/cheerful, and happy to be there. I flew on Lufthansa a lot as a little kid, and I remember a lot of cockpit visits & one F/A was kind enough to gift us a world map that still hangs in my room.
Also when I was younger, an AA flight attendant gave me a Junior Pilot Logbook, which is a great way to bond with the crew. On one flight, a pilot told us she was from the city we were living in at the time, on another I had a chat with a relief pilot in the galley, and on another one the crew gave me a wing pin.
Very interesting and very indicative of cultures in that all the airlines you name are from Asia.
Having lived in Asia, I used to fly United HK to NYC thru Seattle or SF, and Lufthansa to Germany Europe. Then I tried Cathay Pacific, and then all my flights were on Cathay. What a difference !
.
I don't believe the American, Europe, UK and others can do it. They just can't. Culture.
While I'd certainly say that your list is a good one it might be fairer for you to specify that your rankings are for premium cabins.
Lucky, I recall you gushing over service you received on Sri Lankan Airlines a few years back.
I used to like the Singapore FAs too, till they started putting Grannys in SIN to Sfo Flights. With Singapore staff sometimes you can never tell if the FA is 16 or 65. The same goes for Thai Airways, Most of them are very Good ,except you always wonder, if they are the "Lady Boys" of Bangkok.
I object to your giving no one position to SQ their flight attendants particularly females are racist and they don’t like
Colored people
For white people they attend very
Quickly and affectionately
I am not racist I love all religions
All races all cultures all languages
In that place I want you to place
BA flt attendants
This my exp when I was in airline
Industry country is great very disciplined and no corruption
Yeah, it's probably better for you to fly Air India or whatever. Nobody is obliged to like Indians. In fact, Singapore Airlines is completely within their right to say they hate Indians.
Did you use a toilet today, or did you just go on the floor as per usual?
I’m one of “colored people” and I’ve always had consistently wonderful crew on SQ.
I’ve also used it many times on India routes, and I’ve seen demanding passengers in which crew try to oblige as much as possible to their needs, even in Economy.
One example is mother with babies - as soon as they are boarded, I saw crew rushing to fill in warm water for baby bottle with a smile. Never seen...
I’m one of “colored people” and I’ve always had consistently wonderful crew on SQ.
I’ve also used it many times on India routes, and I’ve seen demanding passengers in which crew try to oblige as much as possible to their needs, even in Economy.
One example is mother with babies - as soon as they are boarded, I saw crew rushing to fill in warm water for baby bottle with a smile. Never seen that level of service in other airlines but I didn’t hear the mother saying “thank you” for the work, as if it was taken for granted.
Imagine if many passengers behaved in such a way - I think before using the racism reference let’s appreciate crews’ hard work.
It's difficult to generalize. For instance, with United, I had the worst, and the best. The worst was some old frustrated hag, who told me that my first gin/tonic would be my last...for a 6 hour flight in 'J', because the way I walked onto the plane. I had come from a full day of physical work, and was happy to finally start my 22 hours of flights, and my well earned 6 week vacation....
It's difficult to generalize. For instance, with United, I had the worst, and the best. The worst was some old frustrated hag, who told me that my first gin/tonic would be my last...for a 6 hour flight in 'J', because the way I walked onto the plane. I had come from a full day of physical work, and was happy to finally start my 22 hours of flights, and my well earned 6 week vacation. The best was definitely a very experienced lady, who told me that the window shade was 'mine', after some lady on a middle seat complained that she could not see her screen, and when I went to sleep and I mentioned that I will miss the view of Greenland, she took photos for me, and sent them to me by email the next day.
US airlines are like that. You can get either the absolute worst or absolute best service depending on the crew.
Surprised too about the negative EVA comments.
I flew them last week in business (TPE - BNE - TPE) and I found the overall experience excellent with the FA's fantastic. Admittedly, I was predominantly looked after by only 1 FA on each flight.
One thing I found interesting was that on the BNE - TPE leg the very friendly FA in my section was conversing in English with the other FA's.
I’ve been reading this blog for years, and I’ve always flown economy (typically on United), but I was very excited when I got the opportunity to fly SQ for the first time at the end of January, and in premium economy on SQ26 to JFK via FRA.
My partner (who’s from Singapore but we split our time between SG and US) was on the same flight, but in business, and she always told me good...
I’ve been reading this blog for years, and I’ve always flown economy (typically on United), but I was very excited when I got the opportunity to fly SQ for the first time at the end of January, and in premium economy on SQ26 to JFK via FRA.
My partner (who’s from Singapore but we split our time between SG and US) was on the same flight, but in business, and she always told me good things about SQ. After our first flight, I did agree that the service was pretty good, but during our second flight, I found the flight attendants to be rude, almost aggressive towards me, and apparently she had the same experience too in business. It was very weird and disappointing given SQ’s reputation. I would still fly them though, I’m assuming it was a one-off.
But when you're in the cheap cabins, you can't really demand all that much. You're basically a loss for the airline.
Agree that SQ FAs are the best. On two occasions, my wife or I left something on a plane and the FAs went WAY out of their way to make sure the item was returned to us. In one case, they gave it to ground staff who contacted us via announcement in the lounge. In another case, they gave it directly to the crew staffing our next flight. You can imagine my surprise and gratitude...
Agree that SQ FAs are the best. On two occasions, my wife or I left something on a plane and the FAs went WAY out of their way to make sure the item was returned to us. In one case, they gave it to ground staff who contacted us via announcement in the lounge. In another case, they gave it directly to the crew staffing our next flight. You can imagine my surprise and gratitude when the FA greeted me soon after boarding with, "Mr. snic, I have your laptop charger, you left it on your last flight."
And service in J is pretty much always impeccable on SQ. FAs greet you by name, accommodate requests, are consistently proactive, and have a great, upbeat demeanor - just exactly the way it should be. I can't imagine how I'd want them to improve.
Really? Which restaurants have the best waitstaff? Which financial institution has the best bankers? It all depends on the day and situation. There is something unbelievable about this post Ben. Asian women give you the best service because...? Come on. Do better.
CX used to have great FAs; picked from many different Asian countries. Remember a flight on a 744 from SFO to HKG, where the main FC purser was Filipino. She was great and so natural! Even after all these years, she still remains the best; in my mind. Pity CX now seem to source their FAs from main-land China. Where the idea of 'customer service' still needs to be honed.
Always found SQ's crew to passenger banter; very scripted and robotic. Always with :-"Certainly, Sir" "Certainly, Sir"..etc. Nothing personal nor spontaneous. The best and most 'natural' crew-passenger interaction, tend to be on British airlines. The British dry-sense of humour often prevails; which can be very amusing, yet steadfastly professional.
You make a good point. Service doesn’t necessarily have to be formal to be great.
Surprised to see so much dislike of EVA in the comments.
They've generally been above average and I fly them very often. I greatly prefer EVA over the Japanese carriers.
That’s interesting to hear. It’s always been my understanding that EVA (or even Starlux), being Chinese-speaking airlines, have a bit of a language barrier — much more so than on CX or SQ, which are undeniably Westernised. Conversely, Japanese airlines have always been renowned for their spectacular service.
Why, then, do you prefer BR over NH/JL? Is it the service, or the food, or perhaps NH/JL’s subpar 787-dominated fleet? Just curious to know, given that...
That’s interesting to hear. It’s always been my understanding that EVA (or even Starlux), being Chinese-speaking airlines, have a bit of a language barrier — much more so than on CX or SQ, which are undeniably Westernised. Conversely, Japanese airlines have always been renowned for their spectacular service.
Why, then, do you prefer BR over NH/JL? Is it the service, or the food, or perhaps NH/JL’s subpar 787-dominated fleet? Just curious to know, given that BR wasn’t exactly on most award lists a decade ago, and its rise in reputation has largely come postpandemic.
honorable mention:
The Wells Fargo executive on Air India.
The name changing Proximanova gaslighting onboard VT-CIE.
The barricaded AA flight attendants.
Totally agree on Singapore. Have had great service from Air France of course in business class. Again agree on Delta over American & United. And like you said about the Asian crews, Delta is also culture - Southern vs Northern roots (American/United). However, again Delta's culture has been greatly deluted. Last, totally agree, Alaska is equal or maybe slightly above Delta.
I would say maybe I agree with ANA, but absolutly not with JAL.
ANA flight attendants are trained to be friendly. JAL service can be downright snobbish depending on the person and what cabin you are in. In general I would say that ANA flight attendabts are much better than JAL’s, although I haven’t experienced JAL’s international business or first class.
ANA is better than JAL for domestic flights as well, but neither is...
I would say maybe I agree with ANA, but absolutly not with JAL.
ANA flight attendants are trained to be friendly. JAL service can be downright snobbish depending on the person and what cabin you are in. In general I would say that ANA flight attendabts are much better than JAL’s, although I haven’t experienced JAL’s international business or first class.
ANA is better than JAL for domestic flights as well, but neither is great. Neither are friendly on their domestic routes, they are just cold and polite as is the norm with a most base line customer service in Japan.
I’ve had bad customer service on both airlines domesticay, and bad service on JAL internationally. The other issue with the Japanese customer service model in general is that it works ok until you have a unique or special request or a problem and then things fall apart. But the base line is very very high in terms of consistancy and being polite.
Another issue I have if you have spent any time in Japan is that they make is subtly clear to you when they aren’t happy to help you and are doing it out of obligation. Someone unfamilar with Japan wouldn’t necessarily nito e this, but I certainly do, espcially fliying JAL.
Here is one that I love in terms of friendly quality service (of the flight attendents only): PAL. Yes they the airline in a mess in many ways and their hard and aspects of sort product can be bad, but gosh they are genuinely nice and accommodating
That seems a pretty accurate description of Japan - high baseline level of customer service but very transactional, no personality
The system is efficient and works great for the most part as long as you dont go off script. But God forbid you have a disability, dietary restriction, just don't want fries with the burger...the wheels fall off
Having said that my experience with ANA and JAL has always been good. But definitely don't expect...
That seems a pretty accurate description of Japan - high baseline level of customer service but very transactional, no personality
The system is efficient and works great for the most part as long as you dont go off script. But God forbid you have a disability, dietary restriction, just don't want fries with the burger...the wheels fall off
Having said that my experience with ANA and JAL has always been good. But definitely don't expect any banter or small talk - only once was a FA somewhat personable many years ago out of ORD
JL made the seat across the aisle my bed, as I was the only one in F. They alerted me to the northern lights on the starboard side. I was all excited, but the color was absent, though you can see the curtain effect. At least I can say I saw them.
QR, I love how they squat to introduce themselves and chat upon boarding. Wake up, and someone's there to check in on me...
JL made the seat across the aisle my bed, as I was the only one in F. They alerted me to the northern lights on the starboard side. I was all excited, but the color was absent, though you can see the curtain effect. At least I can say I saw them.
QR, I love how they squat to introduce themselves and chat upon boarding. Wake up, and someone's there to check in on me before my brain even reboots. The warmest of all crews, IMO. Din't they used to have their country of origin on their name tags, or am I thinking of another airline?
You don’t mention Lufthansa! While their biz seats leave much to be desired, I think their service is superb - attentive, generous and very friendly. Far above ANA or JAL, and friendlier than my one experience with SQ.
Is this a sarcasm?
@Rafa Honestly, I don’t think it is. I have had great service with Lufthansa (even though I last flew them over 10 years ago), and from what I’ve heard the service is one of the only good things about them nowadays. That and the fact that they fly 747’s, A340’s, and A380’s ;)
Although Air France flight attendants were great with adults, I didn’t find them very kid-friendly based on our four flights with children a few months ago.
In Fact, Air France didn't seem very kid friendly at all. One example: on the 787 in business class, Air France only allows kids under 12 to sit in window seats. So if you’re a family of four, you can reserve a full row with adults in the...
Although Air France flight attendants were great with adults, I didn’t find them very kid-friendly based on our four flights with children a few months ago.
In Fact, Air France didn't seem very kid friendly at all. One example: on the 787 in business class, Air France only allows kids under 12 to sit in window seats. So if you’re a family of four, you can reserve a full row with adults in the middle and kids at the windows, but you can’t seat the kids in the middle and the adults at the windows.
From what I understand, the rule exists so a child isn’t seated next to a stranger, but in practice it ends up being very restrictive and not family-friendly. Every other airline I’ve flown with kids has allowed children to sit in non-window business-class seats without an issue.
It’s due to the oxygen masks. AF has a goodies for kids. On my last flight the crew spent time time with another family’s children and took the baby for a walk round the cabin.
Very happy to hear they made you feel unwelcome in business class with your ill-behaved spawn.
You were even on a points ticket. With points you got from buying skittles or whatever at 7/11.
You don't belong in business class. Your disgusting hellspawn even less so.
My most memorable cabin crews were Etihad in their good old days.
SQ always nice, but robotic, I never had a feeling of adding a bit of their personality.
I dont agree with great consistency on ANA, flew them several times and while Japanese crew were nice, non-Japanese was way much worse. I will fly them this spring, so will see. But for J class I would expect more consistency (and much better food, but that is another story)
Agreed - SQ FAs are robots. Everything is highly scripted and rigid.
I agree with other readers that Eva Air has really lost its glamor. Flight Attendants are either friendly or downright rude. Even the quality of food services has deteriorated. I don't understand how they maintain their quality reputation.
Totally valid point @tom. I have been saying for a long time that EVA customer service sucks when compared to CI or JX. But Ben and others seem to have a different experience with BR.
The thing I mind about Singapore Airlines is being woken up to confirm whether I intend to sleep through the meal service. Sure they have dnd communication options, but if you fall asleep without using them look forward to be woken up to the question, "Would you like your meal?"
That... seems like a very logical move for them to make? You're paying thousands of dollars for a whole experience and you may have accidentally fallen asleep, which would deprive you of part of that experience. You'd be absolutely livid not getting your money's worth if they did not wake you up. This one's on you.
No, a logical move is, like service minded airlines, to serve the meal if and when the passenger wakes up.
Keep track of passengers asleep during meal service, and then offer them the meal when they wake up.
I have to agree with SQ FAs. Its crew make up what what its hard product lacks. I have flown them several sectors and I have never had a bad flight. Its top notch service is effortless and remarkably consistent.
I only fly US carriers from the North East domestically or to the Caribbean. While they may call their "premium" cabins First or Business, they are very much akin to what I would expect...
I have to agree with SQ FAs. Its crew make up what what its hard product lacks. I have flown them several sectors and I have never had a bad flight. Its top notch service is effortless and remarkably consistent.
I only fly US carriers from the North East domestically or to the Caribbean. While they may call their "premium" cabins First or Business, they are very much akin to what I would expect premium economy to be and consequently I have little expectation of a polished memorable service.
EK and QR can be a hit or miss
VS I have usually had friendly crews although not as polished in their service as SQ.
Here are some notable flight attendants I still remember from your flights over the years:
Janesis on Singapore that you kept in touch with.
Toby on Emirates
Wannaporn on Cathay Pacific which made you chuckle and I'm sure you still chuckle ;)
I recently flew EVA Air six times in the past month and I thought the service was unmemorable and sometimes downright rude. It was my first time flying the airline and given you’ve praised them a lot, I was actually shocked. Even the service in business class didn’t feel elevated. There were definitely one or two individuals that went out of the way but overall it was disappointing.
But agree on all your other points....
I recently flew EVA Air six times in the past month and I thought the service was unmemorable and sometimes downright rude. It was my first time flying the airline and given you’ve praised them a lot, I was actually shocked. Even the service in business class didn’t feel elevated. There were definitely one or two individuals that went out of the way but overall it was disappointing.
But agree on all your other points. SQ has been my favorite airline especially the crew.
Warning.
A snowflake by name of Aaron will call you asinine by judging FAs by one flight, even though this is based on the truths.
First impressions do truely matter.
I flew them last month for the first time from Taipei to LAX on their 777 in J class. I largely agree with this assessment. The second meal was atrocious and the FA who served my section barely talked to me. I thought it was a language barrier.
I think in the US, Hawaiian has the best FAs. Followed by Alaska and Delta.
For European Airlines, I agree Air France is the best followed by KLM.
For the ME3 theyʻre all generally good, a little inconsistent because of language/culture, so one does not stand out more than the other 2.
In Asia, they (excluding the Chinese airlines) are all good. I find them (even SQ) to be a little robotic though. And is...
I think in the US, Hawaiian has the best FAs. Followed by Alaska and Delta.
For European Airlines, I agree Air France is the best followed by KLM.
For the ME3 theyʻre all generally good, a little inconsistent because of language/culture, so one does not stand out more than the other 2.
In Asia, they (excluding the Chinese airlines) are all good. I find them (even SQ) to be a little robotic though. And is it really amazing service if what I experience on ANA or JAL is pretty much the same as I get at a Japanese 7 Eleven?
EVA Air flight attendants are awful since covid. These days, almost all are still masked, which makes the service weird and impersonal.
I enjoy the service from Malaysia Airlines cabin crew , very warm & genuine .
I guess flight attendant service (and 'good' service in general) is subjective and also very culturally nuanced.
For example, the Japanese carriers have flight attendants phenomenally polite and efficient but if you are the type of person that enjoys a bit of banter, forget it.
My partner and I just flew Iberia to Argentina, he is fluent in Spanish, I am not. We were served by the same crew member and he received a...
I guess flight attendant service (and 'good' service in general) is subjective and also very culturally nuanced.
For example, the Japanese carriers have flight attendants phenomenally polite and efficient but if you are the type of person that enjoys a bit of banter, forget it.
My partner and I just flew Iberia to Argentina, he is fluent in Spanish, I am not. We were served by the same crew member and he received a much higher level of interaction, obviously driven by the language.
The Gulf carriers I find the same, and again I think this is driven by cultural elements. When you have a Bulgarian, Thai, Kenyan, Korean and Australian flight attendant working together their own ideas of what good service is is going to vary widely and I often notice a lack of cohesion amongst the crew themselves.
With the US and the UK/european airlines it's an issue of consistency. I have met some of the absolute best crews I have ever been looked after by and the absolute worst on the likes of AA and BA.
One thing I do appreciate however is genuineness and authenticity.