Originally Posted by
BadgerBoi
I'm at a loss to figure out why the parents didn't arrange to sit next to each other in the first place, which would have solved their problems.
It would all depend on who booked when. In all probably the OP book first and got their seat, sometime afterwards the others which at that point there was no opportunity for them to all sit together. Thus the story at hand ...
My suggestion to the OP is to file a complaint with the airline and DOT. I doubt that it will do much other than give them a black mark in the complaint column.