The TCX incident looks like airline (and possibly ground handling) staff were not as customer friendly as they could have been - as others have said, explaining the issue in another way may have avoided the Daily Mail getting involved.
However, TCX are far from alone in being poor at this.
Ryanair as many know, will frequently block off rows of seats at the front and rear when a flight is lightly loaded. Cabin crew *used* to regularly explain this as "We need to balance the plane" with no further details given - this would not a reassuring explanation to those who (as in the TCX case) may fly abroad less than once per year. A better explanation like "It's to save time before departure by reducing the paperwork allowing us to get airborne earlier and also cut down on fuel usage so making your flight greener and better for the environment" is rather more reassuring.