I certainly can understand your frustrations with the long-haul flight, actually the short-haul flight as well.

While you can solve the long-haul flight by switching to another airline, you won't solve the shorthaul problem. As TLVtraveler indicated, if you had connected to BA in London, LH in Frankfurt or Munich, KLM in Amsterdam, etc., you would have experienced the same 6 across format that you experienced on AF. I am not suggesting that you have to like it, just that you have to recognize that it is the standard for all European airlines and you won't get any better by using a different airline.