Hi Jet2impress - thanks for the speedy reply. The flight was not full, and the very pleasant cc re-united the familly, also helped by co-operative pax. [What would have happened if pax were not so obliging is another thread] However IMHO these seat changes should have been done by check-in staff rather than cc who have better things to do rather than try and re-arrange pax prior to take-off. I am of the opinion that the check-in staff are not allowed any flexibility so as to avoid setting any precedent - and to be fair I can understand this point of view.
However, call me cynical, but unless you have paid to sit together, when you check in on-line, the Jet2 system automatically splits pax into different seat rows [from my albeit limited experience talking to pax at ALC] so as to 'force' pax to pay the extra to sit together. All well and good, as the Jet2 booking page makes clear that you cannot guarantee to be seated together without paying the extra for a 'reserved seat'.
However, I revert to my initial question - why does Jet2 forcibly seperate children from parents, thus breaking its own rules regarding unaccompanied minors?