Can we insist that an airline sits our family together?

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.

That is in line with the Civil Aviation Authority stipulation on seating for children: that each child must be sat close to an accompanying adult. So if the airline assigns you and infant to, say, 21D, while your husband and two-year-old occupy 30E and 30F, this rule has been observed.

In my experience, though, the check-in staff, gate staff or (as a last resort) cabin crew will happily help sort out a suitable arrangement.

If ground staff cannot find a suitable solution, once on board cabin crew will doubtless do their best by shuffling passengers around. The passengers booked in 21E and F, in my example, may be happy to switch to another row rather than spending the flight in close proximity to your no-doubt-delightful 11-week-old. So I suggest you just ask on departure. But on arrival in Colombo, it would be worth having a word with the airline.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder