Originally Posted by theblakefish
All I know is that I flew AF A340 from IAH-CDG, and it was one of the quietest jets in the worrld, but definitely not designed for my 6'2'' frame in coach. Not that CO is much better with their 777/767's, but the Airbus product, at least on European-flagged carriers, are definitely designed for the Euro-Body.
Um, your problem was that you were in coach on AF. It has nothing to do with Airbus vs. Boeing and everything to do with how the airline chooses to configure its aircraft.
For example, most airlines' 777's seat 9-abreast in coach, with a 17.9" seat width, one of the more generous seat widths out there. However, Thai Airways, for example, outfits its 777-200s with 10-abreast, which probably cuts seat width down to one of the worst out there (no stats available, but prob <17"). I'd much rather be in a NW A320 (17.2") than a 777-200 on Thai. And obviously, seat pitch can be whatever the airline chooses. 31" or less sucks no matter what type of plane or airline you're on, 32" is OK, and 33" or more is pretty decent.
So, IMHO, there are so many more factors going into whether you are comfortable on a given aircraft beyond whether it's Boeing or Airbus. On the bumpiness comment, I would think that the current weather would have a MUCH greater influence on the smoothness of the flight than the aircraft type. I'm not sure that just because your recent Airbus flight was bumpy that it would have been any better in a Boeing.