Can we insist that an airline sits our family together?

Have a question? Ask our expert Simon Calder

Other passengers may switch to allow parents and children to sit together (Getty/iStock)

Q I am having a nightmare checking in for a flight tomorrow. My husband and I are flying to Sri Lanka with a two-year-old and an 11-week-old baby. The airline has assigned us seats in different rows. Do we have any rights to insist that they sit us together?

Name withheld

A On a flight taking 10-hours-plus with two children so young, I can understand how important it is for you all to be sat together. I infer that the two-year-old has been allocated with either you or your husband, while the 11-week-old is assumed to be on your lap.