I've never understood the BA inferior service comments. I fly F on BA regularly and consider the old horse female Pursers and older camp cabin crew to provide infinitely superior than the QF crew, particularly on the A380. In fact, on my last flight on QF12, the FA in F when I asked him to remove the half full glass of Baileys (he filled it to the rim) and the Vodka and lemonade I no loner wanted so I could sleep actually responded "Well, you shouldn't have ordered them, should you?" I was pretty appalled, but it cemented my opinion that QF crew are just too casual and relaxed for my liking.
As for the partnership, it's widely known that EK ground service is particularly bad when things go wrong, such as missed connections, lost luggage etc, not to mention their constant overbooking.