Do you think the same thing about letting WTP pax sit in empty CW seats provided they are confident this will not affect CW pax? It sounds like you may have a lot of industry experience - maybe as CEO or one of the world's major brink-of-bankruptcy airlines like UA or AA.

Of course it is reasonable to bend the rules in appropriate circumstances. (A good example might be if a BA Premier of many years' standing, seated in Y on the day of his 50th birthday, was going to miss his connection due to the flight's being delayed: then I don't think it would be overly generous to let him have half a glass of the CW champagne, provided it was well into the flight and the CSD was convinced they weren't going to run out. ) But the behaviour described by our Python-esque contributor, WeleaseBwain, is clearly indiscriminate, unthinking and lazy.