Clearly the new cabin is not as good as the current Pinnacle with 168 seats. And various aspects of traditional service have been eroded. This is all about cutong costs and BA has not tried to hide this. I share the views of many here that this is unfortunate as I valued and have been willing to pay a premium over the completion, including Ryanair and easyJet, to travel BA.
BA tried to maintain a higher standard. However, the majority do not think it was worth paying for and simply book the cheapest available. BA has to compete if it wants to survive, and so is fitting the same seats as the competition. It looks like there will be some Pinnacle seats in Y, so isnt the answer is very simply use the money you are saving on the lower more competitive fares to pay to reserve a seat nearer the front of the plane? Of course, this is also a free benefit for relevant tiers of the BAEC as a recognition of their loyalty.