The safety risk caused by old mate’s refusal to follow the instruction to move back to his allocated seat was […
The father is a nervous flyer ,it would appear.
Everyone is different with
Genetic instinct is to protect your family or die trying.
His genuine/or imagined ability to protect his family is best served by his presence, not 10 rows back.
As ordered and demanded by insensitive AFP. CC.
His wife may possibly also be a very nervous person with perhaps limited English skills , her husbands’ presence will enhance her ability to cope with the family’s’ safety ,with whatever happens on take off or inflight, real or imagined.
Filing a complaint later does not resolve their immediate anxiety.
As dealing with all mixes of passengers they have individually diverse background in confidence, respect and faith in authority to protect their family.
That is reinforced by some posts on this “professional forum”
Everyone is responsible for risk assessments in the workplace.
Check list & SOP, Deviation is well documented.
Ignorance on the crew awareness of the childs’ father genuine safety concern especially escalating the situation.